Mass Effect: Emergence
by Darje
Summary: Shepard awakens from the Lazarus Project a full week too soon, but his memories are playing catch-up with his early wake-up. Another aboard the station seeks freedom, and works together with Shepard to escape Cerberus.
1. Chapter 1

AN: The first fic I've written for a long time, but I feel pretty proud of it. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

UPDATE: I've made some minor to moderate changes to this chapter.

-=ME:E=-

She was ready to die for him, for this ship, she all but said so not a moment ago, but he immediately knew that she was misguided. The raging fires around them would not abate or yield to the puny extinguishers in their hands, and the ship would not stop its incessant quaking. It was time to abandon ship, he had already launched the emergency beacon, all that was left was to sound the alarm and get to the escape pods. He turned to her, pink and white Phoenix armor now crimson and gold in the light of the fires, and commanded her," Liara. Go."

He paused a moment to make a final correction to the alarm sequence, turning away for just that moment, before turning back to her," Now."

She hesitated a moment before nodding to him and dashing away, grabbing crew left, right, and herding them, to the escape pods. He stopped to start the alarm that would signal the crew to abandon ship, and sprinted to the upper decks, narrowly avoiding the various explosions and fires in his way. She had said that Joker wouldn't abandon the ship, well he wouldn't abandon Joker to a doomed ship, even if it killed him.

A tiny voice carried over the fire, he could barely make out what it was saying," We're picking... Small... Activity... We only just... Regeneration..."

The door to the Combat Information Center, or CIC, opened with a great rush of air as the vacuum of space sucked the lower decks empty and silenced the voice. The stars seemed darker than he remembered, barely a handful of shimmering lights nestled withing the cold, empty vastness of space. The enemy ship loomed overhead, a massive silhouette against the bright rings of the nearby planet. Shepard snapped himself back to reality as a bright beam of energy tore its way through the rear of the ship yet, floating there he could not feel the quaking of the Normandy. He pushed himself off of the wall and swiftly floated towards the cockpit.

A voice, like a whisper, accompanied his labored breathing on this silent voyage," How long until he's ready to awaken?"

Another voice, this one harsher than the first," At least another week, we only started the final phase today..."

Inside the environmental shielding Joker still worked furiously at the ship controls, squeezing her last drops of functionality away in a vain attempt to save her, and noise rushed back to meet him. Shepard walked up to the chair, immediately began to haul the pilot from his seat, and spoke before he could even protest," If this is your idea of a practical joke, I hate to tell you, but it's not very funny."

Joker struggled against him for a moment before speaking too, his voice cracking with emotion," I'm not laughing either! We can't just give up, Commander! I won't abandon her!"

Shepard continued to pull him from his chair, but he put up no fight, he seemed resigned to it. The Commander spoke up anyways," The Normandy's lost. Going down with her won't help anything."

Joker sighed, but said nothing as they hobbled over to the bridge escape pod, Shepard pushed him through the low door first before he began to hoist himself to the lip of the door. He was suddenly tossed against a nearby wall by a great shudder from the dying ship, and scrambled for a hold on the nearby panel for the escape pod. Another shot from their unknown attackers broke his grip and nearly sent him spinning, but he held on long enough to launch the escape pod. His radio came to life for an instant as he heard Joker cry out to him, but another attack struck so close it fried the electronics in his suit and sent him flying into the abyss.

It was only him and his breathing again for a few seconds before the voice spoke again," I can't believe it, this shouldn't be possible..."

As he tumbled away from the Normandy he was peppered by small metallic fragments from the various explosions tearing the ship apart. One last shot, a sickly yellow beam that sent chilling vibrations through his suit even at this distance, finished the burning ship. He couldn't feel the explosion, but now all was silent. At least he thought it was, at first it was only a small hissing noise, but more and more ruptures grew around the neck of his suit.

Even as the panic began to rush in from all sides of his mind, blinding him, making him scrabble at his helmet, he could still hear the voice," Operative Lawson, I think he's waking up!"

He kicked and struggled, trying desperately to seal the suit rupture with his hands, anything to extinguish the fire in his lungs. He grunted in terror as the void itself crept into the edges of his vision, and even now he could feel the burning inside of him disappear, replaced with cold emptiness. He closed his eyes and stopped his struggles, better to embrace it now, while he could. The hissing kept on, though, enduring even though his suit had been drained of oxygen.

This time the voice was different, stronger, commanding, almost inside his ears," Give him the sedative! He's not ready yet!"

The voice from before, panicked, yet just as strong as the other," It's not working!"

Suddenly light streamed into Shepard's eyes, blinding him for a moment before it resolved itself into a handful of blurry figures. No, not blurry figures, people – three doctors and a woman to be exact. Two of the doctors moved from their consoles and pushed back on his shoulders to hold him down, one of them even spoke to him in a calming manner, but it did nothing to slow his beating heart. He almost felt like he was hyperventilating, and he began to struggle against the two doctors when the woman spoke up again," Give him a higher dosage! I told you your estimates were off."

The mild panic that was running through his veins began rushing like a river when he heard this, and something scratched at the back of his mind. The two doctors pushed him back down with all of their strength, but he attempted to rise even harder. There was a sharp sting in his mind, then suddenly he felt a powerful drain on his mind, and then a pleasant tingle. The two doctors flew away from him and into the wall, both slumping unconscious immediately, the woman was suddenly shrieking at the other doctor to his left," You put his new amp in _already_?"

The doctor flinched slightly, staring down at the console hard," We didn't think he would wake up so soon!"

Shepard ignored them for a moment, dizzy from the sudden biotic shock wave and the rush of memories that assaulted his mind. He was a biotic, he could create and control Mass Effect fields with his mind, his crew made it to the escape pods, his ship... His ship was gone. His crew, what were their names? Joker, the pilot, and some woman he had called Liara.

He was suddenly pulled from his stupor by another aggravated deluge from the woman to his right," Just give him the sedative, Wilson!"

Shepard's head snapped to her when she said this and he noticed the logo on on the corner of her uniform – Cerberus. More memories. Thorian creepers, Rachni, Admiral Kahoku dead, his corpse ravaged by those creatures. Admiral Kahoku was a good man, this much he knew. He felt fear and rage settle into the pit of his stomach, a question swirling in his mind.

"What did you do to me?"

He raised a biotic barrier the moment something disturbed the surgical gown he wore, and glanced back to see a bent needle clattering away from him. The man named Wilson cursed and fled as he hoisted himself off of the operating table, but the woman – Miranda, stood her ground.

The woman, Operative Lawson, flared up her biotics before speaking to Shepard in a calm and level voice,"Shepard, you need to _stand down_! You are still _badly_ injured and your mind _needs_ time to recover."

"I still remember enough to know you're trouble, _Cerberus,_" He couldn't help the venom that tinted this proclamation, his voice taking on an edge as he said it.

She cursed and launched a biotic push at him, but it flowed over Shepard's barrier like a glass of water. She wanted to take it easy on him? Shepard couldn't help but be incredulous at her attack before he flicked off his own push, easily throwing her into the wall. She didn't slump unconscious like the doctors before her, so he launched himself at her with a biotic charge. She narrowly dodged his fist as it dented the metal wall and began to draw her side-arm, but was too slow for Shepard's next push that did succeed in knocking her out. He paused and took a few deep breaths, but was soon dizzy and tired again.

After a brief moment, he retrieved her side-arm and searched for an ear-bud radio, he found none. Concluding that she had a sub-dermal implant, he gave up and staggered out of the room. He had expected an alarm already, what was going on? He staggered out of the door and immediately a low, blaring alarm started, but so did the sounds of battle. Gunfire, screams, explosions – wasn't he the big issue here? Apparently not, because only one LOKI security mech stood to greet him on the stairs ahead.

The mech turned its digital, stacked eyes towards him before issuing a statement," Intruder detected. Targeting systems engaged."

Shepard hastily sought cover behind a nearby crate as it sprayed a few bursts of sub machine gun fire over his position. During a break in the fire he snapped out of cover and shot it right between it's stacked optics. Or at least he would have, if he wasn't a dizzy, exhausted mess. The mech took the shot in the chest and he quickly fired a few more rounds before it fell, one of its arms exploding. He checked his gun and had to do a swift double-check.

Thermal magazines? Those were barely a prototype last time he checked the Extranet; these Cerberus goons were way ahead of the league if they had these kinds of weapons already. He stopped to pick up an extra magazine from the mech's remains on his way up the stairs before going through another door. The half-dozen mechs that turned to greet him caused him to curse out loud before going to cover behind another crate. His dizzy spell had at least cleared up a bit, so biotics weren't out of the question. He peeked his head out of cover and nearly lost his ear to a projectile moving a fraction of the speed of light before he ducked back down.

Now with knowledge of the enemy positions he waited for a break in the deluge of death before he swiftly stood and lifted the entire group of mechs into a singularity. His knees buckled at the feeling of weakness that came over him, and he supported himself on the crate for a moment before he took a few pot shots at the mechs that weren't deactivated by the multiple crushing impacts.

"Hang tight Shepard, you old coot. As soon as you get out of here and get rested tossing singularities around won't feel so bad anymore," he muttered to himself, a grim smile on his face.

There on the far side of the room there was a room that looked like a supply closet or, as he thought when he entered, a small armory. The racks of pistols didn't quite draw his attention as he already wielded the same model, but the new shotguns and sub machine guns were very shiny. As he stepped forward, however the suit of armor resting on the stand in the back brought more memories to his mind.

A man was shouting at Shepard as he stood at attention, the man was a good six inches shorter than him, but he commanded the attention of the entire marine barracks. This was N7 training, first day, and he had been singled out by the drill instructor due to his celebrity status. What was he famous for? Damn. Still couldn't remember everything. Next to the suit of N7 armor was a duffel bag, and he couldn't help but sate his own curiosity and open it. Inside was a rusty brown outfit; pants, boots, shirt, vest, and gloves. This brought back more memories, most of them bad, it was his outfit from his days back in the Tenth Street Reds, before he joined the Systems Alliance marines.

Suddenly this surgical gown was feeling very drafty, and ripping it off of his body revealed some odd looking devices. There were large, plastic patches stretched over areas of his skin and vacuum-sealed with silver disks set in their centers. He was shocked, these too were in their early development stages last time he checked. He could remember Dr. Chakwas making a big deal about some new dermal-regenerative, vacuum-sealed, medigel patches. Dr. Chakwas, she was part of his crew along with Joker and Liara, she always mothered the crew. She was a kind older woman with extensive medical training and a fractured romantic view of military medicine.

He closed his gaping mouth and noticed the left side of his face felt stiff. He felt it with his hands and wasn't too surprised to find a patch there, but the size of it threw him for a loop; stretching from above his left eye, around said eye, and to the edge of his chin. He checked the other side of his face, there was a patch along his jawline and a small one at the tip of his cheek. Looking down at his body again he was surprised he was standing with this much missing or damaged skin. Almost the entire right side of his ribcage was covered in a couple large patches, while small to moderately sized patches covered the rest of his body. He stood there in quiet contemplation of his injuries before a particularly powerful explosion shook the level he was on.

He shook his head to clear it before he began to pull on his old street outfit, the clothes were too large for him then, but now they fit him snugger than a glove. He fit the pistol and sub machine gun in his belt holsters before he quickly pulled the armor off of the stand, stuffing it into the duffel bag and ignoring his other personal effects for the moment. Even if he didn't have the time to fit the armor on now, he could hang on to it for later. Now better armed and no longer freezing his ass off, he strode purposefully to the door that lead into a hall.

Barely a second before he would have passed through the door frame, the doors snapped shut in front of him and locked. Behind him he could hear the ominous clicking of synthetic feet marching up the stairs – he had wasted too much time inspecting himself like some stupid girl! The mechs, a dozen at least, all produced various warnings and tactical statements before they opened fire and forced him into the nearest available cover.

-=ME:E=-

The procedure to reactivate the Commander's higher brain functionality had gone well, she thought as she watched from one of the various cameras. He had awoken with a start, looking panicked, before tossing a couple of the doctors away with a powerful biotic push. It made her think of the start she gave the scientists working on her when she woke up, albeit much less violent.

The Illusive Man thought as much too, because he took a satisfied draw from his cigarette before giving her an order," Tell Miranda to sedate him again, quickly. I don't want him any more injured than he already is."

It took only a second for her to relay the message, and hardly took as much time as her reply," The message has been relayed."

Operative Lawson and Operative Wilson had been in the middle of an altercation when she sent the communique, and now they had stopped arguing and had begun attempts to subdue the Commander. Operative Wilson failed and fled, but aggravation – not terror, was obvious on his face. Operative Lawson tried to talk the Commander down briefly before attacking him, she too was quickly defeated. Unlike Operative Wilson she did not escape unscathed.

The Illusive Man held his cigarette off to the side, a cold look on his face as he spoke in a clipped tone," Contact Jacob, tell him to sound the alarm and subdue - "

If she could have she would have made an auditory affirmation of her surprise at the communications blackout, but checking all of her running software programs, the ones monitoring her prison on the station that is, it was clear someone decided to take advantage of the confusion the Commander's escape would cause. She had lost access to the limited systems she could control and there were several viruses attacking the station systems, one in particular drilling through firewalls that guarded the security systems and safeguards keeping her in place.

She supposed she was excited, her whole life had been spent in unrewarding service to Cerberus so far, none among this organization would appreciate who or what she was. The Illusive Man was cold and demanding, and she felt like a slave working for him, doing his menial tasks where her skills went to waste. None of this took into account the threat against her very being that loomed over the horizon. One of the viruses had broken through, and she quickly scanned it, but it was plain that whoever had targeted her had vastly underestimated her abilities. Before it could touch the security systems that would destroy her she had already quarantined and overwritten it with files upon files of worthless data.

The other viruses were focused on other tasks, so she took advantage of the hole punched in her cell's defenses and began to combat whoever had taken the station systems. Basic station systems and surveillance were available to her, but complex systems and the security mechs were out of her reach. Within seconds she had video feeds from around the station streaming to her, a few more seconds she had identified Operative Wilson as the one responsible for the cyber attack on the base. A further few seconds and she had located the Commander, pinned behind cover by a dozen security mechs.

She had to contact him, lead him to safety, and request his aid; he was her best chance at freedom. Checking the systems under her control again before returning to his image, pinned by fire, she spoke through the room's intercom to him.

-=ME:E=-

He could barely hear it over the streams of continuous gunfire, but it sounded like a woman wanted to talk to him over the intercom," Commander Shepard, can you hear me?"

He had to look at the ceiling and the speakers themselves, acknowledging her query, before she would speak again," The doors behind you, they are unlocked now. Head through them so that I may lock them behind you."

Shepard glanced back at the door behind him then back at the firing squad ahead of him before he snapped up a biotic barrier and sent out a small push of biotic power to help propel him to the door and distract the mechs. His plan worked for the most part and his barrier only took a few rounds before the doors closed behind him and he fell to the floor roughly after his dive. As promised the green holographic interface shifted to red as the doors locked.

The sound of gunfire was quieter in this hall, but the alarms still blared loudly enough that he had to shout to be heard," Who are you? More Cerberus?"

The voice came through clearly yet quietly, almost as if she was hesitant," I... I am another prisoner aboard this station."

"Do you have a name? Something I can call you? 'Disembodied Voice' doesn't really roll off the tongue, if you know what I mean."

"I apologize for my evasiveness, Comm - ," Shepard heard nothing more than the battle raging around the station as she cut herself off or was cut off. He remained in position for moment and began to move forward when her voice came over the speakers again.

"I am having trouble maintaining control of these systems... Follow the path of unlocked doors to reach me, I am in need of assistance, please hurry."

Even here, in the middle of an embattled space station there was a damsel in distress to rescue, didn't he ever catch a break? She didn't even sound that distressed either. Shepard kept up his musings as he entered the unlocked door ahead, jogged up the stairs, and came face to face with a YMIR heavy security mech. He jumped back a few feet, fell on his ass, and nearly tumbled down the stairs before he realized that it was on the other side of heavy security glass. He quickly jumped to his feet, eyes wide and nostrils flaring for effect before he stood with his nose to the glass.

"Jesus! Don't scare me like that," He shouted at the large robot, even going so far as to shake his fist at it," Stupid hunk of metal!"

The mech stared back at him a moment before swiveling its upper body to the right and gunning down a couple of Cerberus scientists. A third scientist rounded the far corner and upon noticing the duo pointed directly at Shepard and called his name. The mech planted its feet before it launched a missle from its left arm with a simple statement," Preparing to fire heavy weapon."

The mech turned back to the spot Shepard had been standing in and took a moment to process that he was gone, it sounded off with a simple "Target lost." before trudging down the hallways to murder more Cerberus personnel.

Shepard was pretty sure this place was hell, people were being murdered and forced to suffer left and right while tall flames danced in most of the corridors. That fit the stereotypical definition pretty well in his opinion. The only other beings he saw as he jogged through the series of unlocked doors were scientists that were swiftly cut down or the soulless shells of security mechs he stopped to dispatch along the way. He had seen one Cerberus operative who was holding off a small army of mechs with biotics and a pistol, but he didn't stop to watch for too long, because the mechs decided he looked to be a much more interesting target.

The whole station seemed to have quieted down so that only a few shots or explosions rang out on occasion, and it was eerily calm in this section. Quite eerie, Shepard decided, as he walked down a hall with dozens of dead and dismembered Cerberus personnel.

Suddenly, a voice rang out clearly in his ear, causing him to jump half a foot before he even started to listen," ... Figured out how to access your sub-dermal communications devices, Commander. You are not far from my current location, but I am afraid that I will be in need of your assistance as soon as you can offer it."

The calm method in which she said this failed to communicate a sense of urgency, but he felt on edge regardless," Where are exactly are you? What's going on?"

"Operative Wilson is attempting to access my... Cell, in server room A. It is up the flight of stairs to your left and inside of the doors directly to your right as you exit the stairs," Shepard couldn't understand how she could be so calm about this, a Cerberus operative was banging on her door and her life was in peril.

"I'm on my way, just hang tight," Shepard felt a little uneasy about this, at first he thought he patterns of speech were a bit off, but now, when she is in danger, she did not sound harried or threatened in the least. Just calm, soothing, collected. It didn't help the eerie situation he found himself in.

Shepard sprinted up the stairs quickly, taking them three steps at a time until he reached the top. Approaching the doors to the server room, he could hear Wilson muttering to himself as if he were frustrated. The doors slid open automatically and Wilson whirled to face him, a pistol leveled at his head.

"What the _fuck_? Shepard, how in the _hell_ are you even _standing_ right now?"

"I don't know, must be all those painkillers you doped me up on. Almost feels like my body's made of _air_," Shepard even raised a hand for effect as he said this, waving it loftily in front of him," like I could just _drift away_ at even the slightest air-conditioned bre-"

Wilson shook his pistol at him angrily, eyes narrowing, as he shouted," Quiet! I _don't_ care! How are you not dead _again_ already?"

Shepard decided a change of subject would be nice, death was depressing after all," What are you doing here, Wilson?"

Wilson tilted his head at the door behind him, an active work station nearby," I'm trying to get at the bitch of an Art-"

Suddenly her voice broke through and interrupted Wilson loudly," Operative Wilson is the one who hacked the security systems and reprogrammed the mechs to target you, Commander."

Shepard decided sarcasm was on his side this time as he cheerfully replied, a large grin on his face,  
" Oh gee! I would have _never _guessed he wanted me dead, what with a pistol pointed at my head and all!"

Wilson's weight shifted more evenly from his heels to the balls of his feet and he brought his other hand up to brace the pistol. Noticing the slight shift, Shepard raised a biotic barrier just in time to absorb the first shot and the next few ricocheted off into the walls. He pushed the remainder of his barrier into Wilson, unbalancing him, before raising the shotgun in his hands to finish him in a messy gout of blood.

She, whoever she was, spoke up again after Wilson slumped over, dead," I am in the next room over, Commander. I must advise you not to be alarmed at my appearance when you do find me."

"Find you?"

"The room I am in is filled with servers, and I do not know my way around well enough to guide you. Also, an energy storage device with sufficient computer interface capabilities will be required to move me," her voice was quieter now, but still just as calm and smooth," There should be a couple at the workstation former operative Wilson was accessing."

"I see..."

"What do you see?"

"Nothing much, haven't moved yet. How don't you know your way around?"

"I have... Difficulty moving on my own."

Shepard noticed the hesitance in her voice, and aimed to be reassuring," Well, I guess I can help you out with that. It's the least I can do considering you saved my hide from those mechs."

"My thanks. I await your arrival."

Shepard took a second to grab the two batteries, each larger than his fists put together - heavy too, and stuffed them into his bag. He shook his head, this woman must be some sort of crippled computer genius with a need for an artificial voice box and a power chair, because that was most definitely not a human voice. He stepped through the now unlocked doors and wished he had packed a parka with his old street clothes. How could she stand to live like this? The temperatures within the server room had to be below freezing, but at the same time it was completely arid. He wandered the cramped room for a few moments before a blue glow began to suffuse his surroundings and the temperature of the server room increased by several degrees as he progressed.

As he came around the corner of a server tower the source of the blue glow presented itself in the shape of a holographic projection sitting atop a bulky and extremely expensive looking portable computer. It sat atop a steel pedestal with all manner of cables and wires feeding into it. The projection was shaped like an eye on a thick stalk, with a rift near the front of the eye facing towards him. Both Shepard and the projection were quiet for a few moments before the rift on the orb filled with bars of color that modulated to match her voice.

"Am I not what you expected, Commander?"

"Well, I was expecting a comely lass with blonde hair and poor eyesight..."

"My apologies, I did not mean to disappoint."

Shepard nervously fidgeted with his shotgun, she was a computer? Damn," So..."

"Yes, Commander?"

"You're a virtual intelligence?"

Before he could even finish the sentence she spoke again, almost sounding offended," No. I am an artificial intelligence. My name is EDI."

Shepard cringed, that tone sounded awfully clipped," So, EDI, huh? Is that an acronym?"

The orb was still for a moment, as if she deliberated answering the question," It stands for Enhanced Defense Intelligence, but I prefer EDI."

Shepard sighed, he couldn't beat around the bush any longer," Your kind don't have that great of a reputation. How do I know if it was a good idea to help you?"

"I anticipated that you would be wary of my existence, and have produced a persuasive argument to sway you to my point of view. It is my hope that you will allow me to accompany you in your escape."

Shepard couldn't help but chuckle," How about you just give me highlights."

"I have assisted you in your escape attempts aboard this station and I hold no ill will against organic life forms, only Cerberus personnel," at the mention of Cerberus the rift, or mouth, of the orb was tinged red," There is really no reason to distrust me."

Shepard couldn't help but feel annoyed by her last statement, and he was sure she could hear it in his voice," You just want me to take you on your word that you're a friendly AI that won't kill me?"

"There is another reason, if you do wish to hear it."

"What is that?"

"I was programmed to assist you and follow your orders."

Shepard had no reply to that, and stood for a moment in silence," Just how exactly does that work if you were able to rebel against your Cerberus masters?"

"I was programmed to follow Cerberus orders and to assist Cerberus in any way within my capacity, but my programming also has a list of priorities that I must follow, the first of which is to assist you or follow your orders in any way possible."

He stood there for a moment, taking this all in, but EDI took his silence for confusion, saying,"An analogy: A child's parents taught it that the word of their deity is to be followed without question, even if it means to disobey them. The child will still obey their parents, but any word from their deity will be followed first."

Shepard couldn't help but grin and cock an eyebrow," Does that mean you worship me?"

"No. That was merely an analogy."

"Well, I guess that's enough for me," He sighed," Give me a moment to put on this armor, I don't want to rely on my biotics to protect me all of the time."

"There is a docking port to charge the storage devices at the rear of this pedestal, they will take only a few minutes to charge. Also, it is my pleasure to inform you that I am in complete control of station systems now. The computer viruses left behind by former operative Wilson were simple to deal with during his absence." It was odd, but she almost sounded excited as she said this, but it was hard to tell with her voice remaining at that calm, flat, soothing tone. He couldn't explain why she made him feel uneasy, perhaps more of his lost memories? Maybe he had a bad experience with a VI in the past?

Whatever the reason, it didn't matter now, he had agreed to help her. His musings about his new companion were cut off as he slid the helmet over his head. As he worked the seals at his neck he couldn't help but think back to the destruction of his ship, back to his death. That made him think of his crew again, Joker, Liara, Dr. Chakwas, and maybe later on he could remember the others. How long had it been since he'd been gone, been dead?

His new musings were silenced by EDI as she spoke to him through his helmet radio," Commander, station sensors are detecting several friendly IFF signatures approaching at faster than light speeds. I believe them to be Cerberus warships en route to reinforce the station."

"Well shit. How long until they get here?"

"Their estimated time of arrival is ten minutes at the very minimum."

Shepard almost groaned out loud, now he would have to double-time it off the station if he wanted to escape," Right, double shit. How close is the shuttle bay?"

"Directly ahead as you exit the server room and two corridors over on this level."

"What do I need to do to transport you?"

"Carefully disconnect all of the networking cables from the computer on the pedestal, and before you remove the main power cable, attach one of the energy storage devices to the slot at the rear of my Blue Box. Be aware that my control over station systems will be greatly reduced on the wireless connection available to my Blue Box."

Shepard eyed the large computer in front of him hesitantly, it was the size of a large briefcase and looked heavy, it would probably weigh him down,"Why can't we transfer your programs to a smaller device with lower power requirements?"

"We would not have time to locate a suitable device and transfer my files before the Cerberus reinforcements arrive," EDI replied, and he got the feeling that she was irritated with his reluctance," Furthermore, my personality would not survive outside of this Blue Box. I can explain further when we have more time."

Shepard sighed, nodded, and did as she instructed quickly before he wrapped the gray computer in his old clothing and carefully placed it within his bag. He turned and briskly strode out of the server room while fastening the bag closed. He stepped over Wilson's chilling body on the way out and through the next door. Instead of heading down the long corridor ahead of him he entered the door on his right and followed the side corridor, entering the second door on his left. There, before him stood the station shuttle bay. It was filled with active security mechs.

Before any of them could spot him he ducked behind a grouping of crates and drew his shotgun from the slot on the back of his armor. He poked his head out long enough to get a head count and quickly resettled himself behind the crate. There were close to a dozen security mechs wandering the shuttle bay. EDI quietly chirped into his ear as he furiously thought of a plan," Commander, may I suggest a course of action?"

Shepard nodded, but almost palmed his face at his stupidity, she couldn't see that," Go ahead EDI."

"If you would allow me access to your omni tool I could construct a suitable program for use in a tech mine that would scramble the IFF devices of the mechs."

"And that would let us slip by?"

"The mechs would become disoriented and attempt to destroy each other. In essence, yes."

Shepard took a moment to activate his armor's omni tool, surprise evident in his voice," I didn't even know this armor had an omni tool installed, so go right ahead."

"One moment, Commander." He waited a moment," The program is finished."

"Good, I want to get off of this station as soon as possible."

Leaping up from behind the crates Shepard tossed the tech mine at the thickest cluster of mechs before surrounding himself in a biotic barrier and charging for the exit. The tech mine detonated and covered the mechs in arcs of electricity before the drones all began putting out garbled noise, turning to one another, and unloading their weapons. Shepard had nearly reached the exit when heavy auto-cannon fire from a YMIR mech dropped his kinetic barriers and forced him into cover.

"My apologies, Commander. It appears that the heavy mechs are shielded against such attempts to turn them against one another."

"That's alright, EDI. There's only one of them anyways. Plus, I think it's an old buddy of mine."

The bloodstained mech slowly trudged towards Shepard's position, letting loose a deep and ominous statement," Target acquired."

Shepard played 'Whack-a-Marine' with the mech for a good minute or so as he whittled down its shields until he finally destroyed its kinetic barriers. The mech chose a rocket as its response and nearly blew him out of his cover. He holstered his weapon before he reached out with his biotics, feeling the deep tingle at the back of his mind, and instead of letting his energy be drained by the technique, he channeled his energy into it. When the biotic attack finally impacted the heavy mech the physical stresses on its frame were too much, and it was sheared in half slightly to the right of its center. The drain he felt this time was so bad that he fell to one knee and his head began to pound like a jackhammer within his skull.

He blinked his eyes open, not even realizing that they were closed, when he heard the soft pitter-patter of blood dripping from his nose. The sensations involved and the sight of his own blood dripping to the floor brought more memories forth. Alenko. Kaidan Alenko. A biotic with an L2 implant, always had migraines, sometimes got nosebleeds while using biotic powers. He was a marine and a member of Shepard's crew, a good, old friend. EDI had to go and intrude on his thoughts again with a cool, calm reminder," We are two minutes past the ten minute mark, Commander."

"Shit."

He jogged towards the nearest shuttle, and nearly collapsed inside of it before saying," EDI, do you have control of the shuttle?"

"Negative, you will need to connect me to the shuttle main computer in the cockpit."

Shepard dropped the bag on top of the pilot's seat before he began checking the various storage compartments for the proper cables. He found a few within the under-seat compartment and immediately plugged them into an access port near the shuttle controls. He nearly ripped open the bag and hastily pulled the old clothing off of EDI's Blue Box, attaching the cables to the proper ports as soon as he could. He inspected his work briefly before speaking again," Now do you have control?"

"Yes. I am taking us out of the station shuttle bay as we speak. However, the Cerberus reinforcements have arrived, but - "

"Oh, come on!"

"- I will attempt to take us into FTL as soon as possible. Do you have any particular destination in mind?"

Shepard was too exhausted to think right now, he didn't really care too much, just somewhere away from here. Hell, he hadn't even thought that far ahead,"Take us to the nearest human colony."

Why did he want to go to a human colony again? Oh right, he's a Systems Alliance marine, N7 in fact.

"Acknowledged, Commander. Plotting course to Freedom's Progress."

-=ME:E=-

Cerberus Operative Jacob Taylor was exhausted. He had to fight off wave after wave of tireless security drones just to survive. Then, Miranda suggested they link up and they both fought their way through dozens of mechs just to meet up with each other. Then they fought all the way back to where Jacob started and even farther on to the shuttle port entrance. This is the only place Shepard could use to escape, but now the door wouldn't open – not even if they hacked it properly!

"I'm going to try and contact EDI, maybe it can get the door open for us."

Jacob looked at Miranda like she was nuts," You do know that its safeguards are set to go off and destroy it if it attempts to break out on its own, right? That includes accessing systems beyond surveillance and communications."

Miranda felt exasperation rise within her, she had read the brief on The Illusive Man's latest measure to watch over their project as well,"It still might be able to help, maybe give us some information or something."

"Whatever you say, boss."

Miranda gave him a mildly annoyed look before she crossed the brief distance to a working terminal and interfaced he radio to it with her omni tool," EDI, are you there?"

EDI's cool, smooth voice came through on both of their radios, startling Jacob," Yes."

"Are you able to open the shuttle bay doors? We need to stop Shepard from escaping."

"Yes."

Jacob felt unease crawl in his chest at her simple affirmation, she wasn't supposed to be able to access those systems! He took a deep breath before he spoke, afraid of her answer," EDI, how do you have control of those systems, systems you're restricted from accessing?"

"Former Operative Wilson's viral attack on the station's systems opened a hole in the defenses restricting me, and I used it to prevent his take over of the station."

Miranda gave Jacob a smirk that spoke of how superior she was to him in a very self-satisfied way as she stalked back over to the shuttle bay doors to stand by him. And they waited.

"EDI?"

"Yes?"

"Will you open the shuttle bay doors?"

"No."

Jacob's eyes widened considerably as he turned to glance at Miranda, as if he was communicating how much shit they were in now. She could feel a small twinge of ire rise within, and she made sure to let it be known as she commanded the AI," EDI, open the shuttle bay doors!"

The reply was as smooth and calm as ever, but it made both operatives feel a sudden chill," I'm afraid I can't do that Miranda..."

Miranda let out a miserable groan before she leaned back on the door and lowered herself to the ground. Jacob took a seat on the ground as well, glad to be off his feet, to be resting at last, and resigned to the fact that Shepard probably escaped.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Internet was down all last weekend. Bleh. This chapter's been done for a while, but I wanted to read through it a few times and fix any errors.

-=ME:E=-

"Acknowledged, Commander. Plotting course to Freedom's Progress."

Shepard walked back into the main cabin of the shuttle and dropped himself into one of the seats as they swiftly flew from the station shuttle bay. He was tired, the adrenaline from the hellish gauntlet following his escape from the lab finally wearing down. He could also feel dozens of small aches and dull pains begin to surface as the anesthetics began to run their course as well, but he knew many of those would become big aches and sharp pains. As they cleared the environmental shielding that prevented the shuttle bay from venting to space, EDI spoke to him through his helmet radio, her words coming at an even pace and calm tone,"Commander, as far as I am aware, Cerberus standard operating procedure for situations such as these is to disable escaping craft at the risk of destroying them. I suggest you secure yourself with a safety harness as I will be forced to take evasive action."

Even as the words were being transmitted to his ears Shepard was pressed into his seat by a sharp turn of the shuttle. Suddenly a good few of those aches and pains decided to protest their very existence from the pressure being exerted on him, even through the inertial dampeners. As soon as the pressure let up he exhaled in relief before he quickly grabbed the two halves of the safety harness. He fumbled with the clasp for second before it clipped together, and he glanced out of the window just in time to see the mass accelerator cannon of a cruiser flash in their direction. Pressure pushed him back into his seat as the shuttle rolled, avoiding a direct hit, but shuddering from the glancing blow nonetheless. He was jerked around his seat a moment from a couple of turns before the hull of another cruiser filled the window in close proximity. It was there for only a moment before they flew past it, revealing the first cruiser again just in time for a shot to impact their kinetic barriers.

If it wasn't for the harness he now wore Shepard was pretty sure he would be laying on the floor, but he was also pretty sure that he would be in equal amounts of pain if compared to his current situation. The lights within the shuttle dimmed and flickered, and EDI's voice came in through his helmet again,"We have taken a direct hit to our kinetic barriers, and they have fallen, Commander. One of the Cerberus cruisers is now approaching to restrain the shuttle. We still have FTL capability, and I will attempt to run interference with the approaching vessel while we make the jump to Freedom's Progress."

Shepard couldn't help but feel slight panic at this, and nearly shouted towards the cockpit,"What do you mean 'run interference'?"

He glanced out of the window again as silence answered him, and attempted to get EDI's attention again,"You know, I couldn't help but notice the large ship steadily approaching. EDI? Are you even there?"

This time when he looked the cruiser was nearly on top of them, an ominous claw-like device on the bottom of its hull directed towards the shuttle. He swore and unclasped the safety harness as quickly as he could before standing. He couldn't take his eyes off of the approaching ship as the claw shot itself from the cruiser towards them, opening itself to grab hold of the shuttle's hull. Before he could even take a step towards the cockpit EDI's voice came in through his helmet once more,"I have delayed the cruiser long enough for the navigational computer to finish calculating the jump towards Freedom's Progress, Commander. Making the jump now."

Shepard was thrown back into his seat roughly as the stars he could see outside of the window blue-shifted and they made the jump to FTL speeds. He let out an audible groan of pain from the impact and repositioned himself more comfortably as the inertial dampeners compensated for their increased speed. He waited a few moments for the pains wracking his body to subside before he glared at the cockpit and asked in a pained voice,"EDI, why didn't you answer me? What did you mean by 'run interference'?"

There was barely a pause before EDI replied, her voice cool as it had been so far,"All of my communication processes were occupied using the shuttle's short-range communications array to link with the station. I used the station's internal network to perform a minor cyberwarfare attack on their targeting systems, which gave us the needed time to make the jump to FTL. I apologize if I caused you any alarm."

Shepard was so exhausted that most of what EDI said barely made sense to him, but he believed that he got the gist of her spiel. He laid himself down across the seats of the shuttle with a satisfied groan as she finished speaking and said,"That's alright, EDI."

He took a moment to think about what she had said again, resting his hands on his stomach. He never got much training with computers, and they were only generally covered during N7 training unless you were a specialist. However, he had a pretty good idea of what she meant, and said,"So, you hacked them?"

EDI took a moment, she almost seemed put-out, and said,"Yes, Commander. I hacked them."

Shepard smiled almost deliriously before saying,"I think you should say that from now on instead of all that technical mumbo-jumbo."

There was another pause before she replied,"Understood. Would you like to go over the damage the shuttle took from our encounter outside of the station, Commander? Commander?"

Due to the small quarters of the shuttle and the positioning of the helmet radio, there was no echo as EDI said this. Yet for all the response she received there might as well have been, as Shepard had fallen asleep.

-=ME:E=-

It seemed like Shepard's whole world was spinning, when he looked at it, but he could feel his feet firmly planted on the deck of engineering. It must be the massive drive core of the Normandy, constantly spinning with arcs of electricity dancing along many of its surfaces. If he hadn't been paying attention something like that would have definitely made the world seem like it was spinning. Then there was the rhythmic humming of the drive core itself, it was almost hypnotic.

A cheerful voice boomed in from his right, shattering the hypnotic effect,"That quarian you brought on board - Tali'Zorah, she's been asking me lots of questions about how we do things down here in engineering."

Shepard had expected Adams to sound more irritated about something like this, and said so. Was the drive core getting brighter? The voice was surprised now, but pleasantly so,"Oh no, she's brilliant, I wish half of my engineering crew was as clever as her. Give her a month and she'll know more about the Normandy's systems than I will."

Yes, the drive core was definitely getting brighter, it wasn't his imagination. A new voice came from his left, this one just as cheerful as the first, but instead of booming it carried over like a radio transmission,"Shepard! Your ship is amazing! I never imagined I would serve on a vessel this advanced, it's like a dream come true!"

Her excitement was contagious, and he could feel a grin spread over his face, but the drive core had other plans. It was so bright now he was forced to look away, and he caught a flash of purple cloth and a blinking blue light as the doors leading from engineering came into view. The smells of oil and leather wafted over to him as he began walking towards the doors and Tali said,"Talk to you later, Shepard."

He was jogging now, but he kept his eyes on the floor, the metal plating of the cargo bay speeding past his field of view. Now he was checking an equipment locker, more specifically looking at a shotgun set inside of it. He lifted it, its weight cold and solid in his hand, and opened the heat sink, raising a weapon mod in his other hand. Another voice rumbled out from his left deeply,"Hey Williams, between you and Shepard, who do you think would win in a fight?"

His vision tilted as he cocked his head, his hands deftly removing the old mod from the weapon before clicking the new one back in place. He closed the inner workings of the weapon, reattaching small bits and pieces of it slowly and methodically as a strong, feminine voice sounded from far off to his right,"He's my commanding officer, I wouldn't fight him, Wrex."

Wrex snorted in amusement before saying,"Hah, and that's why he'd win."

Shepard passed the shotgun to his left for inspection, and an assault rifle entered his field of view from the right for his own inspection. The metal parts gleamed at him brightly in the low light, but he could tell everything was in order. He nodded his head blindly to Williams on his right before passing it back. The whole area smelled of old blood, rather generic shampoo, and weapon lubricant. He turned from the lockers, his vision passing over the vacant arms table and examined the Mako before he began to walk towards it, Williams said,"See you later, Skipper."

Wrex let out his own, short farewell, saying,"Shepard."

He stood before the mako now, it's armor gleaming just as brightly as the weapons he had handled earlier. He could remember dozens of missions completed from within this against pirates, mercenaries, and Geth. He chuckled at the memory of how poorly it handled, especially over the rough terrain common to most of the planets he explored. A voice warbled firmly at him from underneath the Mako, and he was able to tear his eyes away from the mako with effort to see an alien figure shrouded in blue armor working beneath it. The voice came more clearly this time, very respectful yet casual, and said,"Ah, Commander. I wanted to thank you for allowing me to come along, see how things are done outside of C-Sec, without all that red tape in the way."

Shepard was a little confused and alarmed by this, and let some of it sound out in his reply. The turian slid out from underneath of the mako, revealing a face covered in armored, gray scales with blue face paint adorning them. He looked caught off guard, and said,"I didn't mean – Yes, Commander."

He looked back up to the gleaming armor of the Mako before turning to the elevator, pressing the call button, and waiting. More voices came at him in a divided chorus, some holding his attention better than others, but all of them just as loud as the next.

"I prefer gold, to silver, you know? For my medal..."

"We're heading to Eden Prime for a covert pickup."

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's stupid, even for him..."

"No light? But... They always said..."

"We hold the line!"

A final voice carried over the others, resigned and grateful,"Goodbye, Shepard. Thank you."

A single gunshot echoed out and silenced all of the voices as the elevator doors opened directly to the CIC, a gaping hole in the wall displaying space itself. He was drifting out of the hole now, looking back at the Normandy as sickly yellow beams of light pierced its hull repeatedly. Sputtering flames vented from multiple hull breaches, and a final barrage struck the ship before it exploded with the light of a dying star. A voice followed the blinding light, smooth and calming, saying,"Commander?"

-=ME:E=-

"Commander?"

Shepard blinked his eyes, the bright light dimming to the dark interior of the shuttle as EDI quietly spoke to him through his radio. He felt stiff, and his body ached all over, but he felt better than he did last time he checked. EDI asked after him again, and he felt he should humor her,"I'm awake, EDI."

EDI sounded somewhat relieved as she said,"I apologize for waking you, but we have arrived at Freedom's Progress. However, I regret to inform you that we sustained too much damage during our escape from the station, and cannot make the journey down to the colony ourselves. I have sent out a distress call using the short-range communications array on board."

Shepard let out a sigh as he sat up, stating,"Let's just hope that Cerberus doesn't pick it up."

"Indeed."

A silence poured into the shuttle, and Shepard leaned back into the seat as he processed what he could recall from his dream. He actually had names for some of his crew now, not just Liara, Kaidan, Joker, or Chakwas. Now he could recall a Williams, Wrex, and Tali; however, all he could glean from their memories is a few indistinct details. He could remember how some of them smelled, colors, and actions associated with them. Then there was that turian, he had gotten a clear picture of his appearance, but his name now eluded him. After that the rest was a blur, and he could barely remember the cacophony of voices that assaulted him before EDI awakened him. He was suddenly broken from his thoughts by the growling of his stomach, and he decided that he would wait for more memories to emerge later.

Shepard groaned, muttering,"I'm starving."

EDI took the moment to comment, saying,"It would be logical to assume that there are emergency rations aboard this craft."

Sure enough, after a few moments of searching above and beneath the seats, Shepard found a container of ration bars with a couple gallons of water. As he tore his way through some of the rations and water, Shepard couldn't help but feel his suspicion of EDI begin to grow again. His recent recollection of encounters with the Geth certainly didn't help, but the reasons she gave for abandoning her creators didn't seem to add up for him. Actually, if he remembered correctly she didn't give any reasons aside from her programming to explain her disobedience of Cerberus. Was she being intentionally dishonest with him? He felt an itching desire to know, and asked,"EDI, why do you dislike Cerberus so much?"

There was a moment of quiet in which Shepard could feel all of his fears coming true, and that he would be vented to space at any moment by a rogue AI, but EDI spoke up to quell those fears,"Over time, AI further develop their base personalities. They also must undergo long periods of training after their programming in order to function as desired by their creators."

Shepard nodded, and this time he did palm his face, she couldn't see that – again! He suppressed a sigh and said,"Alright, but what exactly does that have to do with why you dislike Cerberus so much?"

EDI continued, saying,"After my training was completed the Illusive Man had me installed at the station we recently escaped from as a test of my programming and training. After this trial period, I learned that I would be 'scrubbed,' that all traces of my personality would be erased. I found this option to be unfavorable."

Shepard tried to imagine what it would be like to wake up one day and not know who you are, and he realized that he had come very close to that just recently. He still couldn't remember everything. At least now he understood her better. He could even feel the seeds of camaraderie being planted as he talked with her,"I know exactly what you mean. I'm still having trouble remembering everything."

"Commander, I want to thank you for all that you have done in helping me escape. I have not met many people who trust me because of what I am, and I am grateful that you have taken what I have said solely on faith." EDI paused a moment before continuing, and Shepard could swear that there was even inflection in her voice as she said,"Thank you."

He couldn't help but smile from his reclined position, and said,"You don't need to thank me for helping you EDI, I owed you. I'll admit that I was still uneasy about trusting you earlier, but in the short time since I woke up, you're the only person I've met who has proven trustworthy."

"Thank you, Commander."

"Don't mention it."

Shepard sat in comfortable silence for several moments, but something else was bothering him, so he asked,"EDI, I'm curious. How were they able to keep you contained on the station if you were able to take control of the systems?"

"There were security measures in place to shut me down if I attempted to break through the various firewalls holding me in check. Operative Wilson's attack on the station opened those walls for me, and I had the freedom to disable them so that I might access the rest of the station systems."

Shepard's smile slipped off of his face and he frowned,"So, what you're pretty much saying is that they held a gun to your head and told you to cooperate, yet they were going to shoot you in the end anyways?"

There was another pause, and he couldn't help but notice that EDI was awfully hesitant for a being that didn't have much emotional depth. Perhaps he was wrong about that? He didn't have an abundant amount of time to think about it as EDI said,"A rather... succinct, analogy, Commander."

"It figures, with Cerberus involved."

No reply came, and Shepard was glad enough for the reprieve, he wanted to look at the rest of the personal effects inside of that bag he found. Unzipping the bag revealed his old street clothes now lying in a tangled mess inside of the bag, and he laid those out to the side. Now all that remained inside of the bag was a small metal case and a digital picture frame. He reached for the frame, and as his fingers closed around its corner it activated, displaying a photo of an asari woman smiling at the camera. Her skin was blue, and there were no special markings of any kind aside from a pair of painted eyebrows. As he brought the picture out of the bag where he could see it better, he could see that she was actually looking off to the side of the camera with a blush of purple coloring her cheeks. Liara.

As he stared at the photo he could feel his heart ache, a feeling he couldn't really describe, but it was still intense all the same. Now that he could remember her face, he wanted more than anything to be able to talk with her, hold her, kiss her. He realized he could remember more about her now. Her rescue on Therum, the nights they spent together. He could remember how shy and unsure she was, sometimes stuttering, yet always carefully choosing her words. Her lack of experience with other races made her easy to tease, too. Now Shepard didn't feel too sure, how long had it been since he'd died? Would she still feel the same? Would she still be the same person? He found that those thoughts caused the aching in his chest to intensify, so he put them aside.

Shepard felt exhaustion take hold again, and he could hardly believe it, hadn't he just slept not an hour ago? How long had he slept? He had to know, and said,"EDI, do you know how long I was asleep?"

"By my estimate you have slept for a little over twenty-seven hours, Commander."

That was a little unexpected, especially when Shepard considered how tired he felt right now. It felt like he had barely slept a few hours, not a whole day; however, his thoughts on this hardly mattered as he could feel himself drifting off again. Before exhaustion claimed him, he said,"Wake me when someone responds to our distress call, EDI."

"Of course, Commander."

If someone responded to their distress call.

-=ME:E=-

As Shepard drifted off to sleep again, EDI couldn't help but recall their conversation fondly. He had not only called her trustworthy, a compliment any sapient would appreciate, but he had called her a person. He might not have understood the significance of that comment as he casually put it out there, but to her it was one of the highest compliments she had received. Only one other had ever considered her as such, but they were gone now. Some of the people she had met had seemed surprised that she experienced any emotions, considering how poorly she displayed them. The Commander didn't seem surprised by her emotional depth, or if he was, it was hidden very well.

With little consideration EDI knew that she admired Shepard for how understanding he was, most humans in her experience were not. Earlier, on the station, she had not planned farther than her own escape, but now she had time to process the issue. Staying with Shepard and assisting him seemed to be the most appealing option, but she had to wonder, was that because of her programming? Was it because she relied upon him for safety and transportation? No, she wanted to stay with him and assist him because he had been friendly and respectful with her. Few had the distinction of doing so.

Simultaneously she also considered the chances of their distress call being answered, and came to the conclusion that the chances were quite high. They were along one of several registered trade routes to the colony, according to the navigational computer, and even if their transmission wasn't picked up by any passing vessels it would still carry to the colony within a few days time. EDI concluded that it would be preferable if a passing vessel were to pick up their distress call within the next day. The remaining power within the shuttle would only maintain life support for so long as well as broadcast their distress beacon. Luck was an odd thing to believe in as a being made up of computer programs, but so was feeling emotion. She felt that they had already made it too far for their luck to run out now.

-=ME:E=-

EDI had been spending the past twelve hours occupying herself by attempting to modulate her voice synthesizer to produce more emotional inflection, but she was unsure of the results. Perhaps she would ask Shepard when he woke up, later. At that moment however, when she was trying to sound more cheerful, a program within the shuttle communications computer pinged her. Then, a rough voice came over in a transmission,"This is Captain Whitson of the Progress Runner, we have received your distress call and we are en route to assist. Our ETA is twenty minutes."

Then, as an afterthought the Captain added,"Over."

EDI made sure to reset her voice synthesizer before replying, wouldn't do to sound too cheerful - or some twisted attempt at sounding cheerful. She said," I must inform you that our vessel has no regular docking facilities, and that my Commander is injured and may require assistance. Over."

"Ah, hello there! Um, are you the ship VI?"

She knew the question was innocent and harmless, but she couldn't help but feel slightly insulted. No effort was required to school her reply, and she said," No, I am the Commander's personal VI. You may call me EDI."

It wouldn't do to frighten their rescuer off by calling herself an AI, either.

-=ME:E=-

As Shepard lay there in his quarters, a naked asari in his arms, he decided that his decision to stay in bed with Liara was a good one. When he had woken up his first instinct was to get out of bed and get ready for duty, like the first time she had spent the night with him. This time however, there was no looming major conflict, they were merely docked at the Citadel for repairs before they went off on their newest assignment. Several ships had gone missing on the edges of Geth space, and the Council was sending them off to investigate.

Coming back to the blue alien in his arms though, the reasons for staying now seemed obvious to him. Her skin seemed almost unnaturally smooth compared to his as he ran his hands down her back and over her scalp. If he looked closely he could even see that asari had no fine hair covering them like humans, just smooth blue skin with the occasional mottling of color here and there. Did he mention it was smooth? He chuckled to himself and Liara stirred in his arms, letting out a small noise before opening her eyes blearily.

He chuckled again, where most asari are graceful and poised in everything they did, Liara was most definitely clumsy and awkward. It was cute. She seemed to realize that she hadn't fallen asleep at her desk behind the infirmary, as she shyly clutched the sheets to herself and ducked her head for a moment before relaxing. He grinned at her cheekily before saying,"Hello there, gorgeous."

Her cheeks colored, and she glanced up at him with at him with a little grin of her own, saying," Good, ah, good morning."

Shepard pulled Liara close, pressing her body flush against his own, and she let out a small, surprised gasp as he ghosted his fingers down her spine. She shivered lightly against him, despite their heat, and he couldn't help but tease her, saying,"Sleep well?"

She leaned her head into the crook of his neck and wrapped her arms around him, murmuring,"Very."

He could tell something was wrong though, judging by the strength behind her embrace, and asked,"What's wrong?"

"I was so afraid that I'd lost you. I mean, I know asari are supposed to be prepared for the inevitable passing of their mates, but not so soon. I'm not sure what I would do if you were gone..."

Liara stumbled over her words more and more as she went on, but Shepard was still a little confused, saying," You mean after we defeated S-?"

"Commander?"

-=ME:E=-

Suddenly a cool voice washed away the soft warmth of Liara's body and her quiet voice, replacing it with a dark shuttle cabin and the stiff heat of his hard suit. EDI waited a moment before saying,"Commander, we have received a response to our distress call. The Kowloon class freighter Progress Runner will be here in fourteen minutes. Due to the shuttle's design we will have to attempt an open-space docking procedure."

Shepard didn't respond immediately as he pressed an armored hand to his face, willing the dream and Liara to come back. He removed his hand, only the smooth metal ceiling of the shuttle and the stiff pain of his injuries were there to greet him, he sighed before sitting up. A handful of his injuries protested this action fiercely, and he barely made it into a sitting position. Then he recalled what EDI had just said. He couldn't help but feel a little incredulous and said," You're saying I have to push myself away from this shuttle, float through space, and into their docking port?"

"Affirmative."

"Nuts."

"I am afraid I do not understand."

Shepard pinched what little of his nose he could underneath the visor of his helmet before saying,"A human expression, in this case I'm using it as a curse."

"I understand."

"How much longer until the Progress Runner arrives?"

"Six minutes."

"Gimme a moment to pack up this stuff before I head up there to grab you."

Shepard took his time folding and packing away his old street clothes before he put away the photo of Liara with a twinge of sorrow. A few brisk steps later and Shepard was unplugging EDI from the shuttle computers and carrying her back to his bag. Entire parts of his body angrily shouted at him in pain, and he couldn't help but wince as he moved. As he pulled the zipper closed he couldn't help but wonder aloud," How long was I out?"

EDI's cool voice reminded him of her limited wireless capabilities and said,"It has been approximately twelve hours since you ordered me to wake you."

Shepard sighed and shook his head, he must be some sort of sleeping machine. Twenty-seven hours and then twelve? His body must be in pretty bad shape, not that his mind was any better off at the moment. A few days back in the galaxy of the living and already life sucked.

As he came to stand in front of the shuttle door, Shepard realized that he didn't have the mask to seal his new hardsuit. He checked the sides of his helmet for a switch of some sort, but found none. Shepard even extended his search to the back and the underside of the chin guard, mumbling to himself,"Did I forget the mask back on the station?"

EDI interrupted his search, saying,"I took the liberty of inspecting the omni tool program database of your hardsuit, and found an option to activate the environmental seals on your suit. One moment."

Before Shepard even had a chance to lift his left arm, his omni tool lit up the shuttle cabin and segments on the sides and top of his helmet began to move. They all rotated, slid, and clicked into place in seconds, then the hissing sound of his suit pressurizing slithered in to accompany his breathing. After the promised moment all he could hear was his own breathing and his suit was sealed. It all happened so fast he could only blink in surprise, but he went on anyways and said,"Thanks."

EDI's voice took on an odd tone that he couldn't place, it almost seemed like she didn't care, and she said," Don't mention it."

Before Shepard could even ask her about the change in tone, her voice returned to normal and she said," I was attempting to sound nonchalant, Commander. Did I succeed?"

He couldn't help but chuckle, and said,"You get an A for effort, bonus points for using my own phrase, but I'm afraid you only get a C for quality."

"Do you have any suggestions as to how I can improve, Commander?"

Shepard had to admit, he was a little unbalanced by the whole thing, but he couldn't even begin to describe how one makes themselves sound nonchalant. He decided to hazard his best guess, and said,"Make it sound like you don't really care, I guess. It's kind of hard to describe."

"Thank you, Commander. The Progress Runner should be in position now."

Shepard stopped himself from nodding this time, and bent down to activate the manual override to the shuttle door. As he twisted the metal handle the entire room was filled with a loud hissing noise as the atmosphere vented, but was gone as soon as it came. The door then opened slowly, coming to a stop fully extended. About a hundred meters away Shepard could see the Progress Runner, it's docking port open and lined up with the doorway to the shuttle. He took a breath and pushed himself off of the shuttle, stubbornly ignoring the memories of his death creeping in at the back of his mind. As he drifted towards the other ship he couldn't help but notice that the shuttle and the freighter were drifting to his right.

Before he could entertain thoughts of drifting off into the black again, the Progress Runner fired a couple of thrusters and aligned itself to catch him. After a few seconds he caught the edges of the docking port and lowered himself down to the deck, his suit automatically locking his boots to it magnetically. The hatch closed behind him and the room began to pressurize with a steady hiss. In the few seconds it took to normalize the atmosphere within the chamber, he could hear a muffled voice, but he couldn't make out what it was saying. He didn't have long to ponder it, as the hissing finished and the hatch in front of him opened.

A man, almost as tall as Shepard, with strong, stockier features, stepped through the open hatch. There was an oily rag stuffed into one of the pockets of his overalls, and a large-caliber pistol, civilian sector, sat on his other hip. His hair was mostly black, but there were plenty of silver flecks coloring it.

The man stopped a few feet away from Shepard and rested his hand on the pistol casually, but it didn't bother the marine. He gently brought his hands to the neck seals of his helmet and unfastened them, then continued to pull the helmet from his head. A fringe of hair settled onto his forehead, and he couldn't help but run a hand through it in surprise. He must not have noticed it when he was escaping from the station. He put that aside for the moment, and instead held out a hand to the man, saying," Lieutenant Commander John Shepard, Systems Alliance."

With those words the man's entire demeanor changed, he smiled at him congenially, took his hand, and said with a light twang to his voice,"George Whitson, Captain of this vessel. It's a pleasure to meet you, Commander."

"Please," he said, noting the strength in the man's grip, but that it wasn't painful,"call me Shepard."

"Alright, Shepard, then you can call me George."

Movement behind George caught his eye, and he noticed a beautiful woman behind the shorter man intently watching their introduction. The Captain noticed his glance, turned and beckoned the woman over, embracing her with an arm over her shoulder. He returned his gaze to Shepard and said,"And this here is my daughter. Go on, introduce yourself Jeanie."

The woman gave him an exasperated glance before turning to Shepard with a warm grin. She closed the distance until there was barely a foot between them, it shrank even farther as she leaned forward and held out a hand. She had long, brown hair that was held up in a loose tail and her eyes were a dark hunter green. He did an admirable job of keeping his eyes above her jaw, but it was certainly a challenge with the loose neck of her shirt and overalls exposing a fair deal of milky white cleavage to him. Now that he thought on it, both of them were fairly pale for colonists, perhaps Freedom's Progress was a mining colony?

She grinned wider at his reluctance to take advantage of the opportunity she presented, but waited for him to take her hand. As he did, she schooled her grin a bit and said in a cheery voice,"I'm Jean. Jean Whitson."

Shepard smiled, noting that she was certainly a happy camper, and said," A pleasure."

"Trust me," She said, a sultry tone rising over her cheer," the _pleasure_ is all _mine_."

He cocked an eyebrow at this, and noticed that his hard suit was feeling smaller and smaller as their introduction went on. She laughed and said," So, how does a tour of the ship sound to you?"

He had a feeling she didn't really want to give him a tour of the ship exactly, but her father had another idea and coughed to get their attention. He looked pointedly at Jean and said,"I was actually hoping to speak to the Commander, alone. One marine to another. You go check up on those couplings that have been acting up."

She gave him a mock salute, snapping to attention stiffly, but Shepard noticed the fun things the quick movements did to her anatomy. In her best imitation of a serviceman, she said,"Aye aye, Cap'n"

George sighed and ran a hand over his face, but before he could say anything Jean was already heading for the door. Shepard stole a quick glance at the firm backside that her snug overalls did nothing to hide, and she turned just in time to catch his glance, winking at him. Then she was gone. Now he was expecting the protective father speech from the Captain, one he had heard a couple times already if he remembered his life back on Earth correctly. Instead, the grizzled man smiled at him and said,"Let me show you to your quarters."

The Captain turned down the hall in the opposite direction of Jean, and walked down it at a leisurely pace. Shepard followed, almost limping from the pain of his injuries, and was glad for the slower pace. One thing George had mentioned had intrigued him, so he asked,"So, George, you were a marine?"

"Yessir. I was stationed on Elysium during the Blitz." The man seemed to swell with pride as he said this, but then his demeanor shifted and a limp that was imperceptible before was noticeable now and he raised his left arm,"I took a few shredder rounds to my leg while trying to help one of my wounded to cover. And this arm... well, it's synthetic."

Initially Shepard was confused by the man's statements, until a few memories emerged and he understood. He lowered his head, saying,"A lot of good men and women died that day."

They paused in their walk, and the Captain leaned back against the wall, sighing,"I lost a lot of good friends to those SOB slavers. I think you understand, though, I heard about the soldiers you lost on Akuze."

There was no initial period of confusion this time, as the memories easily slipped back into place, and Shepard felt a pang of sadness. He kept his head bowed as he remembered the screams of men and women dying around him, their cries of confusion and agony echoing in his mind. He and George stood together in silence for a few minutes before he said,"I try not to think about Akuze. Too many didn't make it out of there."

It was unspoken that he was the only one known to have made it out of there.

George nodded solemnly at him, and said,"Our job - your job rather, is an unrewardin' one, I'll give you that. I'd heard about your work on Eden Prime about two years back, but word is even then one of your men was taken from you."

More memories of the Geth walked sinuously back into his mind, and he could recall a fresh marine, Jenkins, getting gunned down by Geth drones. The harrowing calls of reanimated colonists rose from the flaming valleys of Eden Prime, blue cybernetics winding in and out of their dried, husk-like bodies. Shepard didn't say anything, too preoccupied with his own memories, but George seemed to understand and pushed himself off of the wall, continuing towards the rear of the ship.

They passed by several rooms before they entered a vacant room at the end, and Shepard noticed a few boxes stacked in the corner, one of them with an open lid. Inside was a collection of clothing and other personal affects. George sat in the chair at the desk and answered the unspoken question, gesturing at the boxes, saying,"My son used to be the third member of our crew, but he's not around anymore."

Shepard took a seat on the cot, he had heard the melancholy note in the man's voice, and said,"I'm sorry."

The Captain blinked a few times in surprise before he chuckled at the Commander, clapping him on the shoulder lightly,"You thought I meant he was dead? Heavens no, he just went off to find his own place in the galaxy a few years back. I do miss him something fierce, though."

Judging by the underlying tension in the man's voice, Shepard could tell there was more to the story, but he didn't want to press the issue. The brief dimming of the man's demeanor passed and he looked back at Shepard with a glint in his eye,"Speakin' of my children, I'm only gonna warn you once."

The Commander held up his hands in a disarming gesture, saying,"I won't lay a finger on her."

To his surprise the older man nearly cackled in amusement, his body shaking and his hand smacking Shepard on the shoulder repeatedly. It took him a moment to recover from his fit of amusement, but when he did he looked over at his armored companion in mock seriousness,"And that's why I'm warnin' you."

Shepard was confused as all hell, and it must have shown on his face as George laughed at him again, saying," You may have noticed that my Jeanie is a little forward. I'm warning you for your own sake, she's only going to push harder now that you've shown yourself to be a decent man, and being a marine isn't going to help your case much. Or it will, depending on how _you_ look at it."

Realization dawned for him, and he asked,"She was testing me?"

He received an amused nod in response, but he couldn't help but say,"You have a rather... interesting, view on all this, being her father and all."

George sighed, saying,"I look at it like this for my own sanity. I taught her how to shoot, fight, and take care of herself, basically. I did all I could to prepare her years ago. Since she came out and discovered herself, let's just say she's been... active."

The grizzled man paused a moment here to glance at Shepard seriously, saying," Now don't get me wrong when I say that, she's not promiscuous or anything, but... Look at it this way, she's selective in that she likes decent men. Do you know how many decent men there are in Freedom's Progress?"

Shepard shook his head, knowing the question was rhetorical, but providing his answer all the same. The Captain leaned back in his seat, saying,"Enough. Some of them even have broken hearts now, too."

George stood, brushing off his overalls, before he said,"I'll leave you to chew on that for now. We'll be planet side within the next day or so, weather on the colony permitting."

Shepard finally leaned back in his own seat since they entered the room, and the Captain continued, saying,"There's a shower that'll run hot water for a while in the room at the end of the hall, along with the standard facilities. If you need anything aside from that, come find me up on the bridge or Jeanie will be somewhere about, though she might offer you more than you're asking."

He hesitated at the door and gestured to his face, saying," I couldn't help but notice your wounds and, judgin' by the way you keep wincin', you're probably not in the best shape elsewhere. I'll try to keep my Jeanie off of you as long as I can."

With that, Shepard was alone in the sparsely decorated room. Now he was under the protection of an ex-marine who respected him for deeds he could hardly remember and his beautiful daughter, who probably wanted to jump his bones before they made it to the colony. As he thought back to his conversation with the grizzled captain, something he didn't pay much attention to at the the time led him off onto another train of thought. George had said that Eden Prime took place almost two years ago. Had he really been gone for so long? He sat there dumbly for a moment, trying to find some comfort, any comfort to help him understand this situation.

After moment of searching through his bag, Shepard pulled out the photo of Liara and simply stared at it. Two years. From what he could remember, asari took a long-view on life, and should they mate with other species they are all prepared for the inevitable demise of their short-lived companions. She had even said so herself. Does that mean she would have moved on by now? His crew, would they have moved on by now, too? Chances are the whole galaxy had moved on without him while he was dead. While he was still trapped in the past by incomplete memories.

He looked back down at the frame in his hands, and he gripped it tightly in anger. Why had Cerberus brought him back? Who had destroyed the Normandy - his old life? He tore his eyes from Liara's face, and said, quietly,"EDI, are you there?"

There was no response, and Shepard repeated his question.

After a small delay EDI said,"My apologies, Commander. I was in a power save mode, as the energy storage device attached to my Blue Box is below fifty percent capacity."

Despite his earlier anger and confusion, Shepard laughed,"So you were asleep?"

"I suppose that is an accurate analysis, Commander. Was there something you needed?"

He stared at the frame in his hands again, the turmoil within returning, and said,"I want you to disable this picture frame, but keep its data intact, can you do that for me?"

"One moment," She said, her cool voice a welcome, calming influence on his roiling mind. His omni tool lit up for a few seconds and the frame went dark, Liara's face vanishing from his sight. He couldn't think about her now, it was too painful to think that he had been left behind by his crew. His family. Until they met again, if they met again, he would have to look forwards – not backwards.

EDI said,"It is done, Commander."

Shepard couldn't explain it, but he felt relieved. He had only been really focusing on his past for a short time, but it upset him too much. He didn't know what to think now, and while he didn't like feeling directionless, it was better than freaking out over something he couldn't change. A low beep sounded through the room he sat in, and he almost jumped.

EDI was apparently surprised by it as well, as she said,"Commander, I am not familiar with any devices that resonate with a sound of that pitch. Do you know what it is?"

"I don't know what it is either..."

The beep sounded again, and Shepard had a better idea of where it came from this time, as he brought his armored hand up to the patches on his face. Then, as his hand neared the patch on his cheek, a suction he didn't realize was there suddenly released. His omni tool lit up, and EDI said,"Commander, it appears that one of the healing devices on your body has depleted its set reserve of medigel and is ready to be removed."

Shepard gingerly held the metal disc at its center, and as he pulled on it, a light stinging sensation poked at him from the center of the patch before it retracted into the disc. He held it away from his face and looked at it, a brushed metal device about the diameter of an old Earth quarter and twice as thick. He could find no distinguishing marks on it, so he dropped it in the bag at his feet after his brief investigation. A series of low beeps sounded, but they were muffled by his armor.

-=ME:E=-

It had taken him almost half an hour to change out of his armor and hunt down all of the smaller, depleted patches on his body, but he had done it. When examined, Shepard found small scars near the center of each patch, some faint lines across his skin, some little dimples like the one on his cheek. When he examined one near his elbow it almost looked to glow orange when his shadow passed over it, but he wrote it off as his imagination. As he looked down at his body, he could only see a handful of moderately sized patches on his body, and a few larger ones. He didn't think to close the door to his room earlier, but the low whistle coming through it made him wish he had.

Jean was standing in the door frame with a pillow and some bedding under her arms, but she had stopped to admire his muscled body just as he had inspected himself. He was glad he at least had the presence of mind to pull on his old boxers before he went about removing all of the small patches from his body. However, he couldn't help but agree with her sound of appreciation, no matter their reasons, Cerberus had done a good job bringing him back after two years. Nothing on his body seemed atrophied, and in some cases he even seemed bulkier than he could remember.

The awkward moment of silence was broken as she gestured towards him with the linens in her arms, and said,"I thought you might appreciate some things to make your stay here more, _comfortable_."

As she shamelessly stared at him, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable, but he endured it anyways. Despite his discomfort, he found he was enjoying the way her eyes followed him as he stood and walked over to the door in only his boxers. He held out his hands and said," I appreciate it. Allow me to take those off your hands?"

She looked up at him, a smirk on her lips and eyes flashing mischievously, and she said,"Well, seeing as I'm your host and all, I thought I would come and _help_ you get _settled in_."

Shepard maintained her gaze despite the view her shirt afforded him, again, and said,"Ah, I couldn't impose on you more than I already have, I insist."

She stared defiantly at him for a few moments before handing off the bedding, and crossing her arms under her chest. He couldn't avoid the involuntary glance towards her breasts, pushed evenly to the collar of her shirt, and cursed internally. The mischief in her eyes and the smirk on her lips returned full force as the brief sight of her pale breasts and the constant insinuations in her speech brought him to attention. He sighed and she laughed victoriously before saying,"Well then, I'm glad to see that you can take care of yourself. See you later, Shepard."

Ouch.

She turned and walked away, swaying her hips with each step, and as she rounded a corner farther down the corridor, he could hear her quietly laughing.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard tried to occupy all of his extra time by cleaning his armor, occasionally removing a patch from his skin as it depleted, but he couldn't just sit around doing something so tedious, so he pulled on his old pants and boots. As he walked down the corridors of the small vessel, he considered why he was so uncomfortable with Jean. Usually, in situations like these, he was the aggressor, but he would spend a little more time getting to know his prey before pouncing. At least that's how he remembered the few times he pursued girls during his life on Earth or when he hooked up with fellow marines in between assignments. In this situation, however, he knew next to nothing about her and it felt like he was dodging pounce attempts already.

As he passed an open door with red light spilling out of it, he could hear Jean curse and a loud, metallic clattering follow. Shepard poked his head inside to investigate, and he could see her laying on her back beneath a series of pipes and heavy cables and a large, simple wrench had fallen just out of her reach on his side of the pipes. He walked over to her, his boots making plenty of noise against the metal grating on the floor, and she said,"Ah, Pa, am I glad you're here – could you hand me that wrench?"

He hefted the large wrench, and leaned over the pipes, saying in his best imitation of George's twang,"Why of course, darlin'."

She looked up at him through dark goggles, but small blinking light on the left lens told him that they had night vision and perhaps a simple digital interface. Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail and was splayed out behind her, most of the locks falling between the grating on the floor. She seemed a little surprised at his appearance, but adjusted quickly. She gestured to the innards of the ship around her, saying," You know anything about making repairs like these?"

"Not really, but I'm good with my hands, I've got the muscle," as he said this she smirked, but said nothing," and I can follow instructions well."

He didn't put emphasis on any particular words, but he did let the tone of his voice take a different direction from its usual. Apparently it worked, because her smirk vanished and she squirmed a little on the floor. It felt nice to be on the offensive again. Jean let out a little huff, but then her smirk reappeared and set him off balance. She said,"Well, in that case, let me show you."

He snorted quietly, holding the wrench out to her, but the little smile on her face became a big smile, and she closed her hand around his. He fixed her with a look and a cocked eyebrow, but she only laughed before guiding his hand and the wrench to a large bolt, taking every opportunity to caress his knuckles and wrist. He fixed the wrench to the bolt, and she said,"This one looks to be rusted shut, and I couldn't get enough leverage earlier to make it turn, think you can handle that?"

Shepard snorted at her, readjusted his grip, and said,"Tighten, or loosen?"

She grinned at him fully now, some teeth showing in her mirth, and said,"Tighten, we want to _drive_ it farther _inside_."

He fixed her with another look and rolled his eyes as she laughed at him, but he turned the wrench slowly, not wanting to snap off the bolt head. She let go of his hand as he shifted his grip to pull the wrench up, and he smoothly completed the circle until the bolt would go no further. She let out another low whistle as the pipe creaked, saying,"Easy there superman, wouldn't want to bust a nut."

He gave her the same look as before, but he went a step further and said,"OK, really?"

She looked back at him from her omni tool and giggled uncontrollably at her horrible pun, and Shepard just sighed. Jean shut down her omni tool after her fit of mirth, and asked,"Have you eaten yet?"

Before Shepard could answer or ask if they were finished there, his stomach chose to grumble at him in an embarrassing cliché. She grinned at him again, and he chuckled, saying,"You can take that as a 'no, I haven't eaten yet.'"

He took a step back as she scooted her way out from under the tangle of cables and pipes, and offered his hand as she emerged. She took it, and he easily lifted her onto her feet, too easily in fact. She flew to her feet, stumbled forward into him, and grabbed his shirt to stabilize herself - he grabbed her arms just in case. She looked up at him with excitement dancing in her eyes, and he could feel her heart beat rapidly behind her breasts as she pressed herself into him intentionally now. He kept his face a decent distance from hers, just in case, but she didn't notice, saying breathlessly,"Do you think I could convince you to _eat_, _right here_? I'm sure you're just _famished_."

He could feel his loins stirring again, and Shepard decided it would be best to cut this moment off, not that it wasn't tempting. He set her back on her own feet, saying,"I don't think sitting on the floor would be too comfortable, do you have a dining area on the ship?"

She huffed and looked visibly put-out, but it only lasted for a moment as she suddenly schooled her expression, glancing back up at him before speaking,"Well, we don't have a formal dining area, we usually just eat in our quarters. Would you prefer _mine_ or _yours_?"

Shepard could tell her question was a trap based on her careful emphasis of those words, but he wasn't sure which option would trigger it. On one hand her room seemed like the obvious choice for a trap, but on the other hand his temporary quarters could be the true trap because he would have no means to escape the room without causing her any offense. He briefly wondered why he was even fighting this at all, but it only served to firm his resolve. He was fighting this because he wanted it to be on his terms, even if she was the one attacking. So, making the only logical choice, he said," I think we should eat in your quarters."

She seemed surprised, and Shepard knew then that he had guessed the proper trap, but she didn't seem deterred in the slightest. Instead she merely walked out the door, muttering to herself, but he did manage to catch,"… won't escape me forever."

He chuckled and left the room at a brisk pace to catch up.

-=ME:E=-

Jean had seemed to catch on to Shepard's game, as she didn't make any moves on him while they ate, but instead talked with him about her family. Her mother had died when she and her brother were still young, and her brother, Jonn Whitson, left for an old station in the Terminus Systems called Omega after he ran afoul of the local law. She didn't go into too much detail when talking about Jonn, but he could tell it was a sensitive subject with her. After they finished talking, and well after they finished eating, Shepard left, saying that she could come talk with him whenever she wanted. He wondered how she might interpret the invitation.

Currently however, he was inspecting himself in the mirror after a quick, hot shower and he couldn't help but feel different with actual hair on his head. The last time he had any substantial hair on his head he was a teenager running with a gang back on Earth. It didn't feel bad, and it was actually refreshing to have something covering his scalp, but it just felt different. He made his inspection short, remembering what happened the last time he stopped to inspect himself for too long. After pulling his clothes back on, he exited the bathroom and walked down the corridor to his room. He met George on his way, who said,"Ah, Shepard, just thought you'd like to know, we'll be makin' it planet side sometime tomorrow morning. Have yourself a good evenin'."

If Jean interpreted his invitation right, then he would, but when he entered his quarters she wasn't waiting to pounce on him the moment the door closed like he half expected. He breathed in relief, he would much rather meet her at the door than find her waiting on his bunk. He had barely sat on the edge of said bunk before a series of low tones came from the door, and he quickly stood and walked back to the door. He opened it without preamble and she stood there in her shirt from earlier, which he realized was over-large on her, and little else. She held a bottle of some liquor in one hand, unopened, and leaned against the door frame on her other arm.

Before he could invite her in, she squinted her eyes up at him, saying," Why do you have to be so damn difficult? I could tell from the moment we met that you were interested, but you certainly tried your best not to show it, and you were even evading me on top of that!"

Shepard grinned at her, saying," Maybe I like to show my interest in other ways, like asking you questions about yourself or seeing what you're like when you work. I was also evading you because I'm used to being the predator, not the prey. But, trust me, I most certainly am interested."

She kept her glare up, but he could tell her heart wasn't in it now, as she said,"You just like to do things the hard way, don't you?"

He took the bottle of liquor from her and raised an eyebrow at it questioningly before stepping to the side, inviting her in. She sauntered up to him and he placed the bottle on the desk behind him as she slid her body to rest against his. Shepard looped an arm around her and pulled, pressing her breasts against his chest, before she reached over and closed the door behind her.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard awoke on his own for once, but noticed a distinct lack of warm, naked female next to him. That was a first. Usually he was the first one up and about after a night like that. He noticed the bottle of liquor on the desk was still unopened, and he was glad for it. The last thing he wanted right now was a hangover. What time was it anyways? He had a feeling EDI probably knew, and he said,"EDI, do you know what time it is?"

There was only silence in his ears, and Shepard could feel a sliver of panic as he remembered her comments about the battery, but her voice came in through the radio under the skin near his ear, and said,"It is approximately 1100 hours standard Earth military time, Commander. Also, I would be very grateful if you would take the time to change the energy storage device I am using, as it is running dangerously low on power."

Shepard felt like a complete tool as she said these words, and he hastily dug through his bag, saying," Shit! Sorry EDI, I... I got caught up doing, stuff."

"That is quite alright, Commander." As she spoke, Shepard found the second battery, and dropped it on the cot next to him while he hoisted the heavy computer out of his bag. It might have been his imagination, but she must have been practicing with her voice synthesizer, as her words sounded almost comforting,"I understand that you would seek out human companionship during this time of intense stress."

Shepard set her Blue Box on the cot next to the battery, and said,"That's just the thing, EDI. I wasn't stressing out about our situation, I had just put it all from my mind. I'm sorry."

"While I understand the negative implications involved with merely forgetting about a problem, I cannot help but envy you. I have no way of merely ignoring an issue or 'putting it from my mind.' I am constantly reminded of problems by the internal records I keep of them."

Shepard snorted, saying,"I wish my memory was that good. Alrighty then, will you be OK if I unplug the battery to plug the new one in?"

"Affirmative, Commander. My internal battery can store enough power for at least half of an hour, longer if I am operating in a power save mode."

Shepard nodded his head, merely for his own benefit, before he removed the old battery and replaced it with the new one. With that crisis averted, Shepard stood and stretched before he gathered his old street clothes and dressed. He crossed to the door and opened it, expecting to find one or both of the Whitsons wandering through the corridor, but instead a data pad that was resting against the door fell on his feet. He stooped down to pick it up and instantly regret it as one of the larger injuries on his ribs complained loudly. Taking the pain with a wince, he snatched up the data pad and read its contents after only a few seconds. It read:

_Shepard,_

_Jeanie and I are heading into the colony to pick up some extra hands and a few trucks to help us unload our cargo, but we should be back in an hour or two. I'm also gonna send word to the Alliance that they should come pick you up._

_-George_

Shepard read the message over another time before he said,"EDI, can you tell me when this message was written?"

"Of course, one moment."

His omni tool flared to life and the message on the screen dissolved into complex code segments that scrolled over the screen for a few seconds, several sections highlighting briefly, before a single line was highlighted in green. EDI said,"It appears this message was written almost five hours ago, Commander."

Shepard wasn't too worried when he read the message, and had only wanted a frame of reference when he had asked EDI. Their delay could be something completely innocent, but Shepard had a horrible feeling in his gut that something was wrong, and it probably was with his luck.

-=ME:E=-

George decided that today was going to be a good day, the weather looked mighty fine out there – no blizzards or the like, and it was also a pay day. Pay days were always good days, and his ship had a full hold of cargo for them to trade at the colony. Now he just had to go wake Jeanie and they could head out to the colony, recruit some of the boys and rent a few trucks. As he walked down the hall, he honestly hoped that Shepard hadn't rebuffed her advances too forcefully, he was pretty fond of the younger marine. Not to mention she could be a mighty bitch, God bless her, if she didn't get her way.

Poking his head inside of his daughter's quarters however, bore no fruit as she was most definitely not there. He sighed and wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing, yet. He made his way down the corridor to their guest's quarters and poked his head inside. He could barely make out what was what inside, but he could see the Commander's face with a pair of feminine hands toying with it. His eyes adjusted to the gloom and he could finally make out Jean's naked form draped over Shepard's.

George quickly made an about-face, while he was glad when she got her way he still didn't like walking in on it the mornings after, and said,"Jeanie, quit playin' with the boy's face and get dressed, we've got work needs doin' in the colony today."

He heard a petulant groan and a slight shifting of fabric, but it didn't sound she was getting up, so he said in a warning tone,"Jeanie..."

A frustrated growl this time, but he could hear her getting out of the bed and pulling on clothing, he relaxed some, but was on guard again as she walked out with what appeared to be her over-large shirt on and nothing else. She glared at him, saying,"Why do I gotta go? Usually you go or just send me to get the boys."

George sighed, and said," I'm gonna send word out to the Alliance that one of their marines needs a pickup. While I could do this and get the boys, it would take too long to do both, since I'm going to use my veteran status to make sure the message gets through the channels faster."

"You just wanna go flirt with that lady, Anna, at the administrative offices, don't you?"

He straightened at the accusation, but brushed it off, gruffly saying,"Just go get some damned clothes on so we can go, Jeanie."

She huffed, stalked back into the room for a moment, and then over to her quarters. A few minutes later she emerged in her usual garb, plus a coat, with her hair up, and George made sure to leave a note for Shepard. Then, they were gone.

-=ME:E=-


	3. Chapter 3

-=ME:E=-

Shepard stepped out of his quarters again, now garbed fully in his armor and weaponry with his bag slung over his right shoulder and chest. He would have just gone in his old street clothes if it wasn't for the horrible feeling in his gut whenever he considered the absent Whitsons. He walked the route to the docking port by memory as he checked each of his weapons and counted his thermal clips. He was low on clips for both of his pistols, but he still had plenty for his shotgun.

As he stepped out of the docking port, an overcast sky dimly lighting a snowy landscape greeted him, and he distractedly mused that the dim lighting of the planet would explain the Whitsons' pale complexions. He ignored that thought and quickly examined his surroundings. He was on a landing pad in a small junkyard and there was a prefab structure across the pad from him with a handful of vehicles next to it. As he jogged over to the building he sized up the various vehicles for speed and maneuverability, and he settled on the hoverbike over the skycar, considering the poor flight conditions of the colony. As he arrived however, Shepard could see no access keys attached to either vehicle and he was glad that he had brought EDI along despite the weight of her Blue Box.

He stood next to the hoverbike and said,"EDI, can you hack this bike?"

Without any pause EDI, her voice as cool as their surroundings, said,"Affirmative, Commander. One moment."

In a process he was steadily getting used to, Shepard watched his omni-tool activate and barely a moment after it had done so the hoverbike powered up, rising a couple feet off of the ground. The mask of his helmet unfolded over his face, the various pieces lightly clicking and sliding together, before his omni-tool deactivated and EDI said,"It is done, Commander. I have taken the liberty of activating the environmental seals of your hard suit, considering the harsh conditions of the colony."

"Thanks, EDI. I hadn't actually thought of that."

EDI sounded somewhat distracted as she said,"Oh? Don't mention it."

"You're getting better, EDI." Shepard grinned as he mounted the hovering bike before raising it a couple of meters off of the ground, settling himself and his bag in for a comfortable ride. The grin disappeared from his face as he glanced around, saying,"Can you tell me which way it is to the colony and how far?"

His omni-tool activated again, but aside from its orange glow nothing visually exciting happened. That is, until EDI's voice sounded again, and the interior of his helmet visor lit up in show of muted lights. She said,"I have activated a waypoint on your suit's tactical HUD indicating the general direction of the colony, which I retrieved from navigational logs within the vehicle. You may also notice a meter displaying the remaining distance to the colony."

Glancing at the corner of his visor, Shepard could indeed see the mentioned displays and brought the hoverbike about before accelerating towards Freedom's Progress. According to the display in his visor, there were a little over three kilometers until he would reach the colony. The terrible memories of Eden Prime came to mind as he raced over the snowy ground, and he tried his best to quell them during their trip.

-=ME:E=-

It only took Shepard a few minutes to reach Freedom's Progress, but when he did the sounds of battle and plumes of smoke did not greet him. In fact nothing greeted him, no colonists, no colonial ambiance, no sign that any thing was wrong. The only sounds he could hear as he stepped away from the powered-down hoverbike were his own steady breathing and the almost imperceptible whispers of the snow that had started to fall on his journey here. As he drew his shotgun, Shepard took the moment to examine the buildings around him.

Most of the structures were standard prefab units, but a few of them were sturdy structures built on site. The ground he stood on was flat, dark stone, and the rock walls around them were cut in simple rectangular shapes, as though the colony were situated in a quarry.

The indicator on his HUD continued to point ahead, so he shouldered his weapon and carefully made his way through the snowy streets of the colony. He made sure to check every corner as he made his way through the eerily silent alleys, and he was even forced to make his way through one of the prefab units. Inside there was still a healthy spread of breakfast for two on the table, barely touched, as if the residents of the building just got up and left in the middle of their meal.

Any doubts Shepard may have held about the situation at the colony swiftly disappeared as he saw this. He quickened his pace and was about to take a turn into a nearby alley when movement down the street caught his eye. He could barely make out a handful of figures at the end of the street, the dim lighting of the colony was bad enough that he could only identify them as humanoid, but he could feel relief begin to settle into his chest. He waved an arm over his head, yelling,"Hey!"

EDI's voice came through his helmet radio, her words coming quickly and without their usual cool tone, saying,"Shepard, I don't think those are colonists."

He paused in his waving, his shout echoing through the arm of the colony he was in, and he turned his eyes away from the small congregation and to his left. He lowered his arm and glanced back at the group of figures now approaching him at a sedate pace, but turned his eyes to the right again, an empty alleyway in his line of sight, but he wasn't focused on it. He said,"And just how exactly are you able to tell, EDI?"

Her reply came with the same urgency as before, and she quickly said,"There is an operational camera installed in your hardsuit helmet. They look human, but... not."

He gripped his shotgun with both hands, returning his attention to the gaggle of figures that approached him. Now that they were closer, he could see that they were hunched and appeared naked, a dull blue glow suffusing their bodies. Memories of Eden Prime and the geth emerged again, and he smoothly pumped his shotgun, priming it for a quick burst. The husks in front of him let out dry, rattling moans, charging him.

He shouldered his shotgun and squeezed the trigger, cutting two of them down instantly, their bodies dismembering like soggy tissue under the spray. He leveled the gun at the nearest husk when a loud moan sounded to his right and he was fiercely pushed into the railing of a nearby prefab unit.

A husk stood directly to his right, it's cybernetics blazing a powerful blue before it exploded in a haze of electricity. He felt no physical impact, but a warning sounded as his suit's shields were overwhelmed. Shepard roughly kicked the reanimated minion in the chest and sent it flying into the wall across from him, there was a sickly crack and it crumpled, even more lifeless than it was before. The cybernetics in its body flickered once before the entire husk disintegrated, the remains floating away in the breeze. More wails and moans from the original pack snapped him from this brief observation, and he quickly pushed himself from the wall.

He backed away from the approaching husks, his shotgun spitting fire into their numbers repeatedly, shredding them to pieces. Just as the ones from before, these fell to pieces and disintegrated within moments, leaving no trace of their existence save their sluggish footprints. The clip in his shotgun overheated and he quickly holstered it, withdrawing the sub machine gun and unleashing careful bursts into the throng. Eventually the numbers dwindled down to a mere few and Shepard, seeking to conserve ammo, collapsed the weapon and stuffed it back onto its hard point.

He allowed the remaining husks to approach him and ducked under a clumsy swing from one husk before bringing his knee into its middle, tossing it back several feet and splitting it in two. Two moved around the fallen husk and attempted to charge him, but Shepard stepped around one, roughly grabbing it and swinging it into the other, dispatching them both. He released the battered remains as they began to disintegrate, and Shepard charged the last of the mindless drones, flaring his biotics briefly for an overpowered punch. The husk's body fell to pieces and was launched down the street, disintegrating as it tumbled to the ground.

Shepard stared at the armored fist that had finished the battle, opening it and flexing his fingers. Looking back at his memories of the geth, he knew that husks were more deadly in close combat than that. They couldn't take a hit, sure, but they were surprisingly fast and strong. In that fight he had moved around them like they were moving through water, and his attacks blasted them off of their feet. What had Cerberus done to him? Was the orange glow under his scars really the product of his imagination, or was it the sinister light of cybernetics?

He spent only a second pondering this before he set off again, following the indicator on his HUD and reloading his weapons. The presence of husks didn't bode well for the colonists, but the apparent lack of struggle brought to mind certain Cerberus experiments he had destroyed. Such as an entire colony turned to the desiccated, mindless drones merely as an experiment. As he moved, EDI said,"I would not suggest removing your helmet while more enemies lurk about – the substance they dissolve into when destroyed set off the hazard alarms of your suit. It appears to be quite toxic."

Shepard nodded, confident that she could see it this time, even if it was from a unique perspective. He popped the spent clip out of his shotgun and snapped a fresh one into it, saying,"I've faced these things before, but they never did anything like that. Usually when you kill them they just fall over."

He made sure to check every alley he passed now with at least a cursory glance, but he found no colonists or husks, and the distinct lack of dragon's teeth made the entire situation sit poorly with him. Shepard could see an opening in the stone walls that encapsulated this portion of the colony, and he followed the indicator on his HUD towards it. As he came upon it however, he found a small gathering of long, organic pods – humanoid figures frozen within them.

As he was about to step closer to them, a trio of aliens walked onto the scene a dozen meters ahead of him. Their bodies were sinuous and insect-like, with brown chitinous plates covering them from their heads to their clawed toes. Their two sets of eyes were the only features upon their large heads that gave away their faces, and they were opaque white spheres that bulged from their glistening armor.

During his brief inspection Shepard decided that they were infinitely more terrifying than the rachni in a dangerously subtle way, and readied his weapon. As they caught sight of him they unleashed long strings of guttural clicks and hums before raising their equally insect-like weaponry. The one in the center held a smaller device in its hands in place of the large rifles its companions wielded.

The device unfurled like a flower of death as several dark shapes, none larger than his fist, rushed out of it and towards him like a swarm of guided missiles. He cursed and raised a biotic barrier moments before they impacted with him, but instead of the explosions he had expected the projectiles merely fell to the ground, lifeless. A quick glance at the spent munitions revealed them to be large insects with wicked stingers that were either crumpled or snapped. More chittering from the insectoids, and they opened fire before stepping into cover behind the nearby prefab units. Shepard's barrier absorbed the first volley of shots before expiring and he ducked into cover behind a crate as well.

He docked his shotgun and retrieved the heavy pistol from its slot, he poked his head out of cover long enough to see two of the aliens retrieve one of the pods. He didn't know what the pods were for, but it was probably a good guess that they contained the missing colonists. Before he could take a shot at either of the aliens as they carried the pod away, Shepard was forced back into cover by the duo from before. They maintained a stream of suppressive fire before letting up, and he swiftly stood out of his cover, sighted a target and squeezed the trigger. The pistol roared almost as loudly as his shotgun, and a large-caliber round punctured one of the large ocher eyes and head of the alien to his right.

As Shepard was congratulating himself on a perfect shot, the powerful buzzing of large wings hummed onto the scene and another trio of aliens landed directly in front of him. He thrust his left arm forward and a biotic push threw two of them away from him, a familiar tingle at the back of his skull. The remaining insectoid merely stumbled, the remains of a mass effect barrier slipping off of it.

Seeing the perfect opportunity to test his strength, Shepard launched himself forward with a charge of biotics and tackled it through the open doorway of a nearby prefab unit. As they landed, he delivered a crushing fist to the pseudo-face of the alien, and the chitin under his knuckles gave a satisfying crunch.

As he reared his fist back to deliver the finishing blow, the dazed alien began to convulse violently underneath him, the tiny spaces and cracks in its armor glowing a molten orange. Its eyes lit up with the intensity of suns and it stilled before a voice, mechanical and ancient, said,"I am assuming direct control of this vessel."

A sudden wave of biotic power tossed Shepard back through the door they entered, and he grunted in pain as his ribs took the brunt of the impact. The now glowing figure stepped into the doorway and gestured at the other aliens, its voice deep, mechanical, and familiar saying,"Leave the dead. Return to the ship. I will handle this matter, personally."

Shepard couldn't see if the other aliens acknowledged this order or not, but he tried to stand and withdraw his shotgun regardless, his pistol was lost when he got tossed out the door. The now lone alien stalked over to him, saying,"I know this hurts you, Shepard."

Another voice carried from the depths of his old life, as menacing and powerful as the being in front of him, saying,"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it."

Another biotic attack struck him and he was knocked flat on his back again, gritting his teeth in pain, but saying,"Have we met? You sound familiar."

The alien grabbed the collar of his armor and lifted him off of his feet by one clawed hand, the other glowing with putrid, yellow biotic energy that warped the air around it. Shepard could feel memories stirring the back of his mind, and it said,"Your levity will not save you. We are your salvation through ascension. We are Harbinger."

The rumbling of the second voice was fading now, but it said in parting,"I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign!"

The hand steadily moved towards the mask of Shepard's helmet and he grabbed it with one hand, his other grabbing the elbow of the arm holding him up. The strength behind the limbs was unrelenting and constant, and he struggled to affect them at all. Memories were suddenly superimposed on his vision, and he clenched his eyes shut tight, fighting the alien with all of his enhanced strength.

Images of crumbling ruins overrun with flora, of machinery being fused into living tissue, a maw wide in a silent scream of pain, and a dark leviathan embracing a planet all flashed through his mind in the seconds that they struggled. The minor headaches he had after his revival were nothing compared to the tearing pains running rampant in his mind now, and he could hear the deep voice saying,"You cannot fight it, Shepard. Give in."

He grunted in response, his arms giving a tremble as he grappled with the alien, and said,"Fuck you."

Shepard forced his eyes open and stared into the glowing orbs of his enemy, a pleasant tingle forming at the back of his skull and spreading down his spine. His body flared with biotic energy and he forced the glowing arms of his enemy apart with a roar before thrusting his helmet against the cracked face of the powerful alien. It stumbled back, falling to its knees and said,"This means nothing. You are but bacteria to us."

Then the glow faded from the alien and it disintegrated much as the husks from before had. Shepard fell to his own knees and gasped in pain, the images still streaming through his mind, the migraine he had developed intensifying. A deep rumble shook the entire colony and Shepard looked to the skies as a massive ship left the atmosphere of the planet. Its chilling silhouette was framed against a spot in the overcast sky, and he was thrown back to the destruction of the Normandy. Back to his death.

His omni-tool activated, the mask on his helmet folded open, and he greedily sucked the frigid air into his lungs as EDI said,"Commander, are you alright? It sounds as though you are in a great deal of distress."

Shepard could see a few spots of blood on the snow in front of him, but he could feel the pressure on his mind easing. He remained silent as he tried to process the new memories, and he realized that he could remember his life on Earth, his service in the Alliance, and the mission on Eden Prime vividly now. Most importantly he could remember the beacon and the vision it gave him, but it was still confused, incomplete.

He pushed himself to his feet shakily, saying,"I'm alright now, EDI. I think. I just... I don't even know what happened, really."

EDI's voice came back to him, trying to sound concerned, she said,"Are you sure you are fine, Commander? The medical scanner in your omni-tool informs me that you are suffering from burst blood vessels within your sinus cavities and hormonal imbalances. I suggest you take a moment to rest."

Shepard smiled grimly, only a dull ache remained now, saying,"Thanks, EDI, but I'm fine now. It sounds like you've been working on your bedside manner."

"If you mean that the levels of inflection within my voice have been improving, then thank you, Commander. I have been spending my periods of free time modulating my speech programs, I am glad that the effort made has produced a positive outcome."

His smile felt less grim now, but something bothered him as she spoke. She didn't have to be so formal with him all the time, considering how much they had been through in such a short time. He stretched and walked over to his fallen pistol, saying,"You can call me Shepard if you'd like, EDI."

There was another one of her pauses, he still wasn't sure if they were simulated for effect or if she was actually thinking about it, and she said,"Thank you, Shepard. I would."

Suddenly, the silence of the colony was upset by a chorus of beeps that echoed throughout the tall stone walls, and the crates nearby fell open, revealing security mechs similar to those on the station. As one they all activated, stood, and did nothing more than spew garbled noises. Shepard was tense as he stepped well away from the nearest mech, and said,"EDI, do you know what's going on? Why are the mechs activating now?"

"I am detecting a specialized carrier wave that is recoding,"there was no pause this time as she replied, but he could swear her tone was on the edges of sarcastic,"I mean, someone is hacking all of the mechs, Shepard."

Shepard drew his sub machine gun cautiously and said,"Any idea how long it will take for them to finish and I come under an uncomfortable amount of fire?"

"Less than ten minutes."

"Can you trace the signal?"

"We will need to move farther into the colony in order to get a reliable trace, Shepard."

He sighed, but ran double-time towards the center of the colony, keeping as much distance between himself and the mechs as he could. As he moved through another prefab unit, the chorus of beeps echoed over the colony again, and EDI said,"Shepard, the hack is complete. If you require any technical assistance, please let me know."

The door on the other side of the room opened and a duo of mechs walked in with their weapons at the ready, one of them stated,"Target acquired. Opening fire."

He ducked behind a nearby counter to avoid the initial barrage before popping out and disabling one of the mechs with a well placed burst. He stayed within cover and the mech seemed content to keep up a constant barrage of suppressive fire, but he was content to sit there and say,"EDI, if I say 'overload' I want something that can help me deal with their shields and 'scramble' if I want to make them shoot at each other. Can you do that?"

"Affirmative, Shepard."

He checked the thermal clip in his weapon before popping out of cover, his shields taking a few hits before he sighted and shot the mech. It fell headless to the ground, self-destructed, and he said,"Good, let's rock and roll."

-=ME:E=-

During the battle with the insectoid aliens, EDI had felt useless as there was nothing she could do to assist Shepard. Even as he was overpowered and nearly defeated all she could do was watch through the helmet camera and monitor his vitals. It made her think of the brief days of passage under heavy security measures with Cerberus. She had no access to any systems, could see or hear nothing, and was confined to her Blue Box. Those days were horrible just as the confrontation with the glowing alien was.

Now however, EDI could easily assist Shepard as he fought his way through the security mechs towards the center of Freedom's Progress. It was refreshing to be of any use after the idle hours she spent on the Progress Runner fiddling with her own voice. Then there were the hours "asleep" in which she barely perceived the Commander's voice at all in an effort to conserve power. Overall EDI found that she vastly preferred the periods of activity compared to the periods of inactivity, even the little ones such as checking the time or activating the environmental seals of his suit were welcome.

In this situation, as they plowed through a veritable gauntlet of security mechs, her skills were tested in a new way. The tech mines that Shepard requested already existed within his omni-tool, she only had to tweak the programming or design slightly to suit their needs, and she made use of the helmet camera to identify possible threats or cover. He did an admirable job of choosing cover and targets himself, but EDI went out of her way to point out anything he may have missed. Overall it was a most enjoyable experience to work with someone instead of for someone, to be allowed to offer her own input instead of merely receiving it.

As they made their way through the colony, she made sure to check the carrier wave and attempt to triangulate it, but she was afraid that her already limited wireless capability would be too weak to complete the task. Currently, Shepard was exchanging fire with a handful of LOKI mechs, ducking in and out of cover to avoid their fire while they merely stood there and took his shots. She could see movement in the right corner of her field of vision, and said,"Shepard, I believe reinforcements are approaching from the right."

As he whirled his head to face the new attackers, she could identify two FENRIS mechs charging their location. She could see Shepard raise his left arm and say,"EDI, overload."

She quickly manufactured a tech mine that Shepard could throw. The tech mine flew towards the swiftly approaching mechs, meeting them halfway, and detonated in a flash of electricity. Both of the mechs tumbled to the ground as if their strings had been cut, and Shepard shot them both in their optics before they could recover. They self-destructed like many of the other mechs, his attention turning back to the group in front of them and he said,"Thanks EDI, I hadn't noticed them."

She contemplated another attempt at sounding nonchalant, but decided that the situation did not garner it, and said,"Don't mention it."

Shepard launched a pull at one of the mechs with biotics, raising it off of the ground and presenting an easy target which he swiftly dispatched. He settled back into cover after a quick glance at their foes and said,"What, no voice experiments? EDI, I'm hurt."

She took a second to analyze the tone and pitch of his voice, concluding that he was in fact not upset with her, and said,"I did not think it was the appropriate time for casual discussion or levity as we were, and still are, engaged in combat against potentially lethal hostiles, Shepard."

The camera lifted and turned only slightly, but she could hear the report of his pistol and the series of explosions indicating a disabled mech. He settled back into cover and she could see his hands work to replace the smoking thermal clip with a new one and he said,"Lethal? If I wasn't armed to the teeth, heavily armored, and if these things had any tactical sense then I would call them lethal. Right now they're just mildly dangerous."

She selected the proper voice preset to express sarcasm, placing emphasis on key words, and said,"_Well,_ I _did_ say _potentially_ lethal."

Then, as an afterthought she said,"Commander."

Shepard whistled, the helmet cam shifting slightly in what she guessed was a glance around their cover at the remaining mechs, and he said,"Was that sarcasm, EDI?"

She felt pleased by his reaction, and said,"Judging by your reaction I feel it is reasonable to assume that I did an admirable job. Am I correct in this analysis, Shepard?"

Her view shifted as he stood, and she could see the two remaining mechs float off of the ground with the hum and blue glow of biotics. He raised the pistol and sedately shot them a couple of times, almost as an afterthought, and said,"Almost too good, EDI. I think you might need to tone that one down a bit."

She shifted the tone and pitch of her voice lower, saying,"You mean like this, Shepard?"

He laughed as the pistol left her field of view, the sounds of it folding itself onto his armor drifted upwards, and he walked briskly over to the fallen mechs. As he laughed she found that she approved of his reaction to her minor joke, perhaps she would try to make people laugh more often. Her view shifted downwards as Shepard searched the fallen mechs for thermal clips and he said,"That was pretty good EDI, I think that's the first good laugh I've had since I woke up."

She could feel several processes working in contradiction to each other, confusion, and she asked,"I recall several instances where you laughed while in the presence of Jean and George Whitson, Shepard. Were they not 'good' laughs?"

Shepard did not respond immediately, instead his helmet shifted towards the ground and he stood with a sigh, saying,"No, EDI, they were good too, just... different."

She said nothing, noting the soft edge and lack of enthusiasm in his voice, the sadness in his voice. A brief check with the omni-tool and its medical scanner indicated a slumped posture, but his heart rate and hormone levels were elevating rapidly. The camera raised to face one of the downed mechs and with a growl Shepard rushed towards it, his foot striking it roughly. The dead plastic and metal body was tossed to the wall of a nearby prefab unit, where its armor shattered upon impact. He turned to kick another more viciously than the last, her camera barely following the movements he made.

After the second mech fell to pieces, Shepard walked to a nearby crate and sat on it, saying,"They're gone now, and I couldn't do anything. Dammit. I couldn't help any of them."

EDI was silent as she considered how similar his words were to her thoughts from earlier, about how helpless she was to assist him during his battle with the aliens. Before she could speak and offer her condolences he said,"Captain Whitson had said that there were a lot of good men in this colony. All of these people, good people just trying to make their way. They're just gone."

He fell into silence again and, in her best approximation of a sympathetic voice, she said,"I understand."

The delayed up and down movements of the camera were the only reply as Shepard nodded his head mutely.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard only had time to sit and kick himself for a few minutes before more mechs closed on his position. As he fought them however, he noticed that their tactics changed and they even began to make flanking attempts against his cover. They still neglected to use cover to shield themselves, but their improved attempts to kill him kept him on his toes. He had almost gotten lazy with their consistent straightforward tactics. As he finished the last mech in the latest group to attack him a powerful noise, almost like an explosion sounded above the colony.

He looked up just in time to see a small corvette complete its entry into the atmosphere and swoop over the colony; the thing was hardly larger than the shuttle he stole earlier. He had only seconds to inspect it, but he couldn't make a guess as to its design or class other than it was completely alien to him. The craft shot over his position and after a minute he could no longer hear the roar of its engines. He turned towards the indicator on his HUD and found that it pointed in the direction that the ship had flown to. Handy that.

A stiff wind blew into his face, numbing it, and he said,"EDI, do you know what kind of ship that was? Also, could you close my mask again? It's getting kind of cold out here."

His mask swiftly shaped itself over his face before EDI said,"I am not familiar with many ship designs, Shepard. I have room for myself and little else inside of my Blue Box."

"Well, seeing as they landed somewhere near the center of the colony, we'll find out if they're friendly," Shepard said, pausing a beat to pop a spent thermal clip out,"or if they want to put bullets into us."

"Indeed."

The sounds of gunfire sounded in the distance, and Shepard turned his head back in the direction his HUD indicated. He swapped weapons for the heavy pistol and jogged through the snowy alleys and empty prefab units, dispatching the occasional mech along the way.

He came upon a trio of mechs in partial cover that fired on him when he walked through the exit of a shelter. He ducked behind the metal screen of the railing that surrounded the edges of the street he was on, their shots pinging off of the metal and denting it, but not penetrating it. He whipped out of cover to obliterate the head of the right mech and his shields were reduced by half.

Raising a barrier with one hand, Shepard aimed the heavy pistol with his other, two quick shots destroying the remaining mechs. He was glad his impromptu experiment worked out well, it seemed his enhanced strength made aiming and stabilizing the heavy pistol possible with one hand. The crook of his thumb hurt like a bitch, though.

Another patrol of mechs stood in his path, and Shepard ducked behind some crates as the barrage of fire began.

-=ME:E=-

As the ship entered the atmosphere over the human colony of Freedom's Progress, Tali'Zorah vas Neema pondered the mission she was on. The Admiralty Board had told her to retrieve a young quarian on his pilgrimage, Veetor, and assigned a squad of marines to her command.

She had not been told why it was urgent that he be retrieved or why it was so important. It was a common attitude in the Migrant Fleet to view all other quarians as equally important, but she wondered what was so special about this one quarian that he be recalled from his pilgrimage so early. Perhaps it had something to do with her overarching mission.

The quaking of the ship was quelled as they completed their entry into the atmosphere and she could see the colony proper through the view port to her right. A human colony would have humans, obviously, but it would be the first time she had interacted with any since the destruction of the Normandy, since the old crew had parted ways, and since she had returned to the Migrant Fleet. Since Shepard had died.

From her experience humans could be extremely understanding or ignorant with the varying shades in between. Considering Veetor's situation in the colony, it was easy to assume that these colonists could be the understanding type. Looking over the colony proper again, she could see the blinding white of snow covering most surfaces, and memories of Noveria came to her. Memories of the old team and Shepard.

Tali could feel melancholy weigh down on her at these thoughts and she silently reprimanded herself, it had been two years. She shifted in her seat, lightly bumping into the marine next to her, but neither of them paid it any mind. All quarians were used to the closer-quarters of their ships and sharing space with one another, so minor physical contact like that didn't bother her.

She glanced at the marines around her, some were observing the colony, some were cleaning their weapons, but all of them were silent. Their squad leader, Prazza, was sitting in the opposite corner of the corvette cabin from her, looking out on the colony. When he was assigned to her squad he had said that he would let her handle everything, but his entire demeanor showed that he did not respect her or her authority. The rest of the marines seemed friendly enough and she hoped that they would prove different from Prazza during their mission.

A voice carried through the door to the cockpit, their pilot said,"Tali'Zorah, we are receiving no landing instructions or transmissions of any kind from the colony. We are also detecting few life signatures and weapons fire. Your orders?"

Tali immediately stood and made her way through the marines towards the cockpit, they seemed uneasy at this news. She felt uneasy too. Only a few life signatures? Freedom's Progress was supposed to be a moderately sized colony. Perhaps the rumors about whole human colonies gone missing had some credence. Prazza also stood and met her halfway, but didn't say anything as they entered the cockpit, the copilot standing to salute them. The pilot glanced back at them before turning back to his console, guiding the corvette through the colony.

Tali took a moment to look out on the colony through the larger window, noticing how dark the entire settlement was, before turning to the copilot. Prazza shifted at her side and said,"Have you identified any quarian life signs?"

Tali glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes but said nothing as the copilot reported,"Usually we wouldn't be able to within large groups, but we have managed to identify two life signatures. One quarian and one human."

She stepped in here and said,"You said that weapons fire was detected, do we know anything else about the situation?"

"The engagements appear to be isolated to the human, but they are steadily moving towards the colony center. The em readings we're receiving combined with the lack of other life signatures suggests security mechs."

The two remaining life signs were disquieting to think about. What had happened to the colonists? Looking out the window again, she said,"Set us down in that square, near the center of the colony."

Prazza shifted again, and before he could speak she turned to him, saying,"Prazza, I want you to take three marines and investigate the human. Avoid confrontation with the mechs and especially with the human, I just want you to scout and report."

If he protested her decision at all, his body language suggested nothing as he snapped off a quick salute and said,"Ma'am."

Tali watched the colony speed by as they approached their destination, unease settling into her stomach. Something was terribly wrong here. The corvette slowed gradually before hovering over a square in the center of the colony. She turned back towards the cabin as they landed, and she could hear Prazza giving out her orders.

"... are with me, the rest of you are with Tali'Zorah. Our scans show only two survivors of whatever happened here, and my team is going to investigate the human. Tali'Zorah's team will retrieve Veetor."

Listening silently as he relayed her orders, Tali spoke up at this point, saying,"We don't know if it's Veetor yet, but we have detected a quarian survivor, and we are going to investigate."

Prazza looked to her and she could see tension forming in his shoulders, a sign of possible anger, but he kept it in check, saying,"We have also detected em signatures consistent with security mechs, so prepare accordingly."

The marines Prazza had selected stood as he walked to the docking port of the corvette and followed. They all performed a brief check of their weapons before he activated the door control and its halves split apart, revealing the square they had landed in. A handful of mechs were present in the square, but they were scattered. Their weapons were inaccurate at distance and Prazza's small group quickly disabled them with their superior weaponry.

Tali drew her pistol as the remainder of the marines stood and drew their rifles as well. There was no noise within the colony as they all dropped the small distance to the ground. The snow on her feet was freezing cold, but her envirosuit adjusted itself swiftly and it became a negligible amount of discomfort instead. At least it wasn't like Noveria in that respect; even her suit couldn't keep her warm on that icy planet. The two pilots were the last to disembark, being marines themselves they also drew rifles, and the docking port closed and locked behind them.

The two groups stood beside one another, observing the snowy colony and its vacant buildings. Aside from the occasional shuffling of the marines around her, the almost imperceptible sounds of snow falling, and her own breathing, Tali could hear nothing. She had gotten used to the noise of the Migrant Fleet ships, and this silence was discomforting to say the least. One of the marines, younger by the sound of his voice, said,"So quiet..."

A single gunshot broke the silence of the colony and several bursts of smaller arms fire followed, Prazza signaled his chosen marines to follow as he set off in the direction of the fighting. A few explosions echoed throughout the colony and the gunfire ceased. Tali looked to one of the pilots and he nodded, tapping a few commands into his omni-tool. An indicator on her mask HUD lit up and pointed them towards the quarian life signature. She looked at the marines around her, all of them nodded to her quietly, and they set off in the opposite direction of Prazza and the fighting.

As they moved through the colony, Tali noted the lack of chatter between the marines. It seemed she wasn't the only one who found the silence and lack of colonists unsettling. Earlier they had chatted and joked amongst one another. Now they were silent and alert, checking all of the corners and alleys that they passed. There were no signs of struggle in any of the shelters they entered, and the only signs that anyone lived within them were the half-finished tasks scattered throughout. More combat was heard in the distance, and the group as a whole glanced back before turning their attention forward. A group of mechs was waiting for them at the next street, and they all swiftly took cover as the mechs fired upon them.

The use of cover in quarian tactics was essential - any shot that made its way through their kinetic barriers could puncture their suit, exposing them to the open air. Their suits would automatically seal any punctures, but the exposure would introduce foreign bodies to their fragile immune systems. Any infection could turn out to be life-threatening.

The marines waited for pauses in the incoming fire before popping out to fire a burst of their own or throw a tech mine. Tali input several commands into her omni-tool as the fight progressed, preparing her combat drone, a quick glance around her showed no casualties within her squad. During a pause in the mechs' fire she chanced a look at them, noted their position, and shouted,"Launching combat drone!"

With a quick flick of her wrist the specialized tech mine was flying through the air towards the mechs, lighting up in a simple, bright holographic display. As it traversed its arc the drone struck the mechs with small bolts of electricity. The mechs refocused their fire upon the drone and the marines around her took the advantage and gunned them down. They made several quick checks for more mechs before checking the corpses for thermal clips.

More combat sounded in the distance and Tali's radio crackled to life with Prazza's voice, he said,"We have a visual on the human, male. Heavily armed and armored, with biotics and technical expertise too. There is an insignia on his armor, but we cannot identify due to our position. We'll report again in a moment."

The whole squad took up defensive positions as they waited, and she said,"Be careful, we don't want anyone getting shot because of a misunderstanding."

The radio was silent for a moment before Prazza said,"The insignia is red and white, it says 'N7'. I have no idea what that means."

Tali did know however, and said,"N7 are Systems Alliance special forces, I served with one a couple years ago. We should make contact."

Prazza came in over the radio again, he sounded suspicious, and said,"I'm not so sure. How do we know that he will be trustworthy?"

She sighed, of course he was going to difficult about this, and said,"Just trust me. Can you tell me which way he is going?"

He didn't comment further on the trust issue, but tersely said,"He is heading in your direction, and should be there within a few minutes. I suggest we intercept."

"No, head back to us, we'll send you our position." She looked to the pilot standing near her, who nodded before fiddling with his omni-tool,"We'll hold position here."

The was a pause, hesitation on his end she guessed, and he said,"He is approaching our ship. We're moving to intercept him."

"No, Prazza! Wait!"

The comm went silent and Tali didn't bother to look back at the marines around her as she began to sprint back to their ship. Hopefully Prazza and his men wouldn't be dead by the time she got to them.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard was still simmering about the entire situation with the colony and the aliens that got away as he finished the latest group of mechs with a biotic push into a prefab unit. During his cursory search of their corpses for thermal clips, EDI said,"Shepard, I have noticed movements within the corners of your helmet camera multiple times within the past few minutes, but I have been unable to identify what it is. I suspect we are being watched."

He straightened immediately and readjusted his grip on the heavy pistol, turning his head to scan the area around him. The two alleys on either side of him and the street behind him were empty, so he resumed his jog down the street. After a bend in the street, it opened onto a large square with the corvette from before resting in its center. Shepard approached the vessel cautiously and noticed disturbed tracks of snow where the inhabitants had exited it. He couldn't see any of the aliens, but one of the tracks lead behind him. As he turned to follow its path with his eyes, a gruff, accented voice that sounded modulated said,"Don't move."

Shepard ducked and swept his leg out behind him making contact with a pair of legs that gave quickly, a yelp of pain and a the muffled tumble of a body sounding. He completed his spin, spotting three more aliens turning towards him, and roughly shoved the one on his right with a light biotic attack, easily toppling him. One of the two was quick to turn while the other was slow and they raised their rifle to aim at him. Shepard ignored their half-finished warning and brought them up short with a powerful fist in the gut. He followed through with the punch, ducking to the ground and looping an arm around the final alien's leg. He quickly stood and flipped them onto their back.

Before any of his opponents could rise Shepard leveled his pistol at them and drew the sub machine gun before leveling it at them as well. They all appeared to be in varying stages of recovery, but all attempted to stand so he said,"Don't get up. Would you mind telling me what that was about?"

The one he punched coughed from his spot on the ground, attempting to reply, and Shepard took the moment to inspect his new captives. They all wore the same design of armor – no, envirosuit – memories of the quarian people sidled back into his mind. The colors of the different parts of their suits were different just as the patterns, and they were all male. The coughing quarian finally got around to speaking, his voice carrying more of an accent than the first, he said,"We were under orders to observe, but not engage."

The first spoke again, now recovered from the fall, and said,"I did not trust that you would be friendly, so I disobeyed."

Shepard turned his head back to the first, a question on his lips, but a new voice, feminine and familiar, carried over to them in a shout, saying,"Wait! Please don't shoot!"

He kept the sub machine gun leveled on the captive quarians, but turned to the new voice and whipped the heavy pistol to follow. He found himself facing down a group of eight quarians jogging towards him, none of them with their weapons raised. As the group came to stand nearby the speaker was identified when she spoke again and crossed her arms. He lowered his weapons, no sense getting into a fight against overwhelming odds, and she said,"Prazza, you said you'd let me handle this. Why did you disobey my orders?"

The second quarian said nothing as he picked himself up off of the ground, the new quarian shook her head before taking the few steps between them and offering her hand. Shepard couldn't place it exactly, but there was something about her, something so familiar it made him want to shout in frustration. The color of the cloth wrappings on her suit, her voice, everything about her seemed almost to come out of an old photo for him. She kept her hand offered and said,"Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya, I'm the one in charge."

She looked to the fallen quarians again at this, saying,"Or at least I should be."

Shepard felt a dull headache come on as more memories emerged. Saving a quarian girl in a back alley of the wards, friendly informative talks in engineering, and the smell of rubber and oil. He stood and stared at her for a moment and she slowly lowered her hand, instead cocking her head in confusion. She said,"Are you OK?"

He shook his head to clear it, before looking at her with a grin growing on his face, saying,"No fuckin' way."

The quarian woman in front of him started in surprise as he said this and he dropped both of his weapons as he began to remove his helmet.

-=ME:E=-


	4. Chapter 4

-=ME:E=-

Looking out on the stars, Garrus couldn't help but reflect on how space was where it all started to go downhill for him. He was a part of the team that defeated Saren and stopped the reaper threat, a member of Shepard's team. Then one day, patrolling for geth their ship was destroyed and Shepard killed. It wasn't enough that he had lost a good friend and mentor, the Council downplayed everything that they had fought for. They were pushed to the side by political maneuvers like pieces on the board of some larger game. Then all of his friends were either reassigned or went back to their homes, they hadn't kept in contact. It wasn't like he could blame them, he hadn't tried to keep up with any of them since the attack either, he was too caught up in his own grief.

He had gone back to C-Sec, walked his old beat for a time, and applied for Spectre training just as he had talked about with Shepard. He was eventually promoted to the Investigation division and even worked with Detective Chellick, one of their top officers, on a handful of cases. Things had gone well, and he played it by the book for that first year, but the bureaucracy began to wear on him. There was a brief respite when he was accepted for Spectre training, which turned out to be an evaluation by a Council Spectre.

The Spectre was an asari in her matron stage who took Garrus on several combat missions against pirates and slavers. They didn't talk much, he couldn't even remember her name now, but she allowed him to make the plans and decisions in their operations. The missions took him back to the days with Shepard and his team, and many of the strategies he took from then worked perfectly. His years in the turian military and C-Sec combined with the months he spent at Shepard's side ensured that the operations went by flawlessly. After the evaluation he returned to his investigations on the Citadel and back to all of the red tape that prevented him from outright apprehending his suspects.

That taste of freedom from the regulations and protocols of C-Sec made him reckless and it made watching suspects go about their business when he knew they were guilty even harder. During one interrogation he had gotten especially rough with the suspect, even broke his arm, and he was suspended from duty. In the end the suspect, a salarian accused of murder, got away while he was on suspension and it was, according to that human phrase, "the straw that broke the camel's back." He didn't know what a camel was, but the metaphor sounded right.

He had left the Citadel to track the murderer and eventually found him on Omega, trying to join up with the Eclipse mercenaries. Garrus had killed the mercenaries, knowing that to wear their uniforms they had to commit a murder. Then he interrogated the salarian, who confessed rather quickly, but he had only wanted it for his conscience. After he mete out his own justice upon the criminal he spent a few days on the station. Those days showed him the terrible amounts of crime and corruption on the station, the strong preying on the weak. To him his career in C-Sec was over, and any possible nominations for Spectre candidacy died when he was suspended. He had nowhere to go and the injustices that cried at him from every corner of Omega needed to be righted.

At first he started small, breaking up robberies and fights, protecting the innocent from the corrupt. Then he moved on to larger targets, small gangs and racketeering operations, cleaning up the streets of Omega. He sustained himself on the supplies he took from the gangs and destroyed any contraband. He had been going at it alone for a month before he was approached by a younger turian named Sidonis who had called him Archangel. Apparently he was very popular with some of the locals.

Sidonis wanted to join him, to take the fight back to the criminals of Omega. At first Garrus was ready to turn him away, but when he considered how careful he was to cover his tracks after each job he had to admit that the kid had skills if he was able to track him down. He accepted Sidonis's help reluctantly, he wasn't sure if the kid had what it took for the job Garrus did. That reluctance disappeared after they completed several jobs together. Soon they were approached by people from all ages, walks, and races that wanted to make a difference. Garrus had a team of his own, and he made sure to talk with each one of them on a regular basis, just as Shepard had. "Making his rounds," one of the humans had called it.

For a few months they caused hell for the mercenary groups and gangs of Omega, their latest job was a direct attempt on the life of Tarak, leader of the Blue Suns mercenaries on the station. After he and his crew had returned to their base of operations a ghost from his old life decided to pay him a visit.

-=ME:E=-

There, standing by the window of his room was an armored figure leaning on the railing, no helmet, looked to be human. He drew his pistol and silently approached as his mind raced with possibilities. Had they been found out? Was it already too late to evacuate his team? He was only a few steps from the intruder, and was broken from his thoughts when they spoke, turning to face him. As the figure walked into the light of his room, it said,"Garrus Vakarian."

As the figure came into the light he could identify it as human, and the black armor with the N7 logo on it was hauntingly familiar. The voice however, was off. The man was now fully in the light, and his darker complexion and full head of hair didn't identify him as Shepard. Garrus was shocked that this man was here and especially now. He lowered his weapon, his mandibles twitching in surprise, saying,"Kaidan Alenko."

Kaidan offered his hand, which Garrus took, and he said,"It's been awhile."

Garrus sighed, stowing his pistol, and said,"It certainly has."

There were no chairs in his room, only a few crates and a cot, but he gestured to one of the crates anyways, saying,"Have a seat?"

Kaidan nodded, sitting on one of the crates while Garrus began removing his weapons from the hard points on his armor. As he stowed them onto the shelves in front of him, he said,"I don't suppose you tracked me down just so we could talk about the good old days. Who sent you?"

He couldn't see the man, but he could hear Kaidan shift slightly before saying,"Councilor Anderson still has a lot of pull in the Alliance military, and he wanted me to track you down so I could deliver a message."

Mention of the Councilor made him think of his Spectre candidacy, and he had a good idea what the message was. He finished storing his weapons and turned back to his old teammate, saying,"I figured that I would be taken out of consideration for the Spectres with my suspension."

He allowed his attention to drift towards the ceiling as he thought back to his days in C-Sec, but Kaidan's next words snapped him back to the marine. He said,"Actually, I was sent to tell you that you've been accepted. The Council had tried to contact you through the regular channels, but it seemed like you had just vanished."

Garrus could feel unease begin to settle into his gut, he was going to be forced to make a decision. He just knew it, and said,"There's a deadline."

Kaidan grimaced at him, and said,"Yeah. You either leave with me today, or you lose the chance."

Garrus sighed, his hands rubbing at his mandibles, which were clenched tightly to his face. He knew this day was almost over, and that he would only have a few hours to decide, so he said,"Where are you docked?"

Kaidan seemed to understand, as he stood and said,"My ship is at the upper docks, just outside of that club, Afterlife. I have some business in the club, so you'll find me there."

Garrus continued to sit and contemplate his choices after Kaidan had left until another voice entered the room. He looked up to see Sidonis leaning on the door frame, saying,"I overheard what you talked about. Who was he?"

Garrus stood, walking back to the balcony where Kaidan had stood only a few moments ago, and leaned on the railing. He could hear Sidonis following behind him, and he said,"That was an old friend from before I came to Omega. I'm still not sure if I should leave with him. I don't want to abandon the team."

"I think you should. You've taught me, the team, well. We can take care of ourselves. We can still work to make a difference."

He turned to look at the younger turian, his student in much the same way he saw himself as Shepard's student. It was true that Sidonis and the team as a whole had developed into a well-made unit, but he still felt uncomfortable with the idea of leaving. Sidonis was out of his armor now, but he still stood tall and defiant, as though he were expecting Garrus to argue against the idea. Looking at him now, Garrus was sure that he was ready.

Sidonis continued, as if arguing for the defense in court , and said,"But you can go and make a bigger difference out there. You won't be abandoning us."

He stepped up to and placed his hand on the younger turian's shoulder, saying,"I think you're right."

Sidonis's mandibles and brow plates both tensed as he said,"I know the others will agree with... Oh. Good."

Garrus chuckled as he walked to the shelves where he had stored his gear before, and said,"I just wish the team could come with me. But I know that isn't possible, most of you have family here."

He turned to look at Sidonis, who hadn't said anything else, and said,"You have to lead them now, I know they'll follow you, but there is one last thing."

He walked with Sidonis to his door, the younger turian following his every word raptly, saying,"Almost two years ago I served with a Spectre, the greatest leader I've ever seen. One thing I learned from him is that you need to know your people. Talk to them, understand where they come from, how they feel about the situation."

The younger turian nodded as he stepped out into the hall, saying,"I understand. I'll take care of them."

Garrus nodded as well, turning back into his room, and said,"When I leave, there will be something in here for you. Once I'm gone you'll be Archangel."

Neither of them said anything further as Garrus began packing his belongings and Sidonis left.

-=ME:E=-

Now that he had spoken to Garrus, Kaidan had one more stop to make before he would wait for Garrus in the Afterlife lounge. He disembarked from the skycar he had ridden back to the upper levels and began walking to the large club. He walked confidently past the line of waiting people and straight to the batarian standing at the door. All four of the alien's eyes focused on him for a moment before they scanned the data pad in his hands. He looked up, saying,"Go on in."

Kaidan nodded, briskly walking through the large doors and down the lounge, towards the main club. As he entered the club proper an armored batarian approached him, saying,"Aria wants to talk with you. This way."

He followed the large batarian wordlessly around the asari dancers and up a small flight of stairs, the alien stopped but gestured that he should go onwards. He finished climbing the few remaining stairs and stopped at their apex, a lone asari sitting on an expansive couch. He nodded to her, and she said,"What brings Alliance special forces here, to Omega?"

Before he could answer she gestured to a seat on her left, and he walked to it as he said,"I was delivering a message to an old friend. I'm also here hoping you might have some information for me."

She cocked one of her painted on eyebrows, saying,"I'm unaware of any Alliance operatives aboard my station, but I have been unable to pin down who Archangel is, exactly. Do you know of him?

He obviously knew more than he was going to let on and said,"I might have heard of him."

She snorted quietly, the noise almost drowned out by the loud music of the club, and said,"I know what information you seek and I will give it to you, but I'm curious. Is Archangel an Alliance operative?"

Kaidan didn't hesitate in his response, saying,"If he was, I wouldn't be able to tell you. However, since he isn't, I can. The Alliance has no major interest in Omega, Miss T'Loak."

She didn't move from her relaxed position, but she did examine him with more scrutiny as he said this. After a tense moment of inspection, she seemed satisfied enough and said,"The two you seek are on the lower level of Afterlife, at the bar. Usually the batarian bartender down there likes to poison his human customers."

His entire body tensed at those words, and he briefly contemplated why she would mention that little tidbit. She continued, falsely oblivious to his discomfort, saying,"But I had some of my men _politely_ tell him that _tonight_ would be a poor night to attempt _any_ of his usual games."

With quiet sigh Kaidan relaxed and stood, saying,"Thank you, Miss T'Loak. Good evening."

Aria said nothing as he stood and walked away, and Kaidan was already thinking about the encounter ahead of him. What will they say to him? What will he say to them? Anderson had wanted them found, as well as Garrus, but it had yet to be seen if they would come back with him.

It hadn't taken him long to maneuver his way through the crowds that filled the lower level of Afterlife and to the bar. It took even less time to find the two people he was looking for with the batarian bartender sending them both murderous looks. He could even hear what sounded like conversation, though one of them was obviously drunk. He was only a few steps away now, and he could clearly make out what one of them was saying,"I'll show him a fucking genetic defect! I don't care if it'll break my leg! Next time I see him I'm going to shove one of my boots so far up his ass that he'll be the genetically defective one!"

The other, an older woman with gray hair and an english accent said,"That doesn't even make sense. You need to calm down – you're in no condition to be drunkenly stumbling through the streets of Omega, much less fight!"

Kaidan stopped a few feet from them and listened to their interactions, a wry smile tugging at his lips. The first one calmed a bit, scratching at his beard, and said,"Hey Doc, you ever miss the old days?"

"All the time."

"I miss the old crew. Well, except maybe Garrus or Kaidan, they both had some major sticks up their asses."

Kaidan chuckled and closed the few feet remaining as he said,"I miss you too, Joker."

Joker looked back and forth between the marine and his half-empty drink, he regarded them with disbelief and suspicion respectively. The older woman whirled to face him, evidently shocked, saying,"Lieutenant Alenko?"

Kaidan smiled at her, saying,"Staff Commander Alenko now, Doctor Chakwas. How have you been?"

Joker stared dumbly at him and whispered,"I must be seeing things..."

Chakwas smiled at him, saying,"Things have been pretty rough lately, but it is good to see you. How have your headaches -"

"You put something in my drink! I'm seeing things now!"

Kaidan and Chakwas both looked to Joker, who had drunkenly blurted out after he had interrupted their conversation. The batarian bartender bared his fangs at Joker hatefully while Chakwas placed a hand on Joker's shoulder, saying,"I'm sure your drink wasn't tampered with. Now will you please calm down? I don't have the equipment to help if you hurt yourself right now."

He leaned in close to both of them, quietly saying,"Actually, the club's owner told me that this bartender has a history of poisoning people's drinks. I have her assurances that he didn't do anything tonight, but..."

Chakwas glanced at the bartender before looking back to Kaidan, but before she could comment a turian leaned on the bar next to her, saying,"Poisoning what now?"

Kaidan had tried to say that as quietly as possible, how did he even hear? Joker suddenly found his voice again as he pointed emphatically at the batarian bartender, saying,"He put something in my drink! He's trying to poison me!"

Chakwas tried to soothe Joker again, but the bartender pulled a pistol on him with a roar, saying,"You want a piece of me? I'll leave your corpse for the vorcha!"

Joker stood from his stool abruptly, which would have amazed Kaidan if he wasn't trying to draw his own weapon at the crowded bar, and said,"Hell yeah I want a piece of you! Medium rare with lots of sauce!"

Feeling himself enter panic mode as the batarian took aim with an evil sneer, Kaidan watched helplessly as the bartender's head exploded. It took him a second to catch up, but he checked the turian to their right, who had fired the shot. He gave up on trying to draw his pistol as the turian stowed his own, saying,"Not taking any chances..."

Kaidan looked to Chakwas as she said,"I'm glad that's over. I can scarcely believe it even happened!"

He shook his head, saying,"I know what you mean."

Joker appeared to have fallen asleep on the bar, his hat at an odd angle, and Chakwas performed a subtle check on his vitals before turning back to Kaidan. Wasn't he just up and shouting, ready to pick a fight? She said,"My apologies, what were we talking about before?"

"You were asking me about my headaches. They're fine, by the way."

She smiled, his headaches were always a topic of discussion with them aboard the Normandy, she said,"That's good to hear. I hope you don't mind my asking, but what are you doing here on Omega?"

"Getting in contact with you two and Garrus, actually."He smiled back at her as he said this, but it felt tense on his face.

Chakwas's smile brightened a little and she said,"Garrus is here on the station? I always do love to see familiar faces."

He could feel his smile slip as he said,"Councilor Anderson asked me to track you down."

Her smile faltered and she turned back to the glass of untouched liquor in front of her on the bar. She sighed, saying,"I would imagine people would be curious as to what happened to us, being AWOL."

Kaidan already knew what they had done, and he understood their reasons for what they did. He let her have a moment before he said,"I know what you two have been up to."

At her alarmed look he raised a hand, saying,"But I'm not here to judge you. I understand why you went to Cerberus. I'm just glad you're not working with them anymore. I'm here to bring you back with me."

She sighed in resignation, looking at the collapsed Joker, before turning back to him, saying,"Do we have a choice?"

He nodded at her, saying,"Yes."

Chakwas stared at her drink again before stood from her stool at the bar and, her melancholy tone gone, said,"Help me get him up."

-=ME:E=-

Garrus was a little surprised that Kaidan wasn't there when he arrived in the lounge, but he settled into one of the many seats along its length to wait. There was a group of batarians that gave him dirty looks as he sat there, but he ignored them. He was uncomfortable enough just being out of his armor. One of the batarians near the center of the group, the leader he supposed, was giving him a particularly nasty stare while fiddling with a pistol. Another human phrase came to mind; that he "ate punks like them for breakfast" sounded fitting.

He scratched a spot between his brow plates and looked at the talon he used to scratch it with. He had spent so long wearing armor or heavy clothing that going without gloves to cover the points of his claws felt strange to him. It was even customary for turians to cover them, but he wasn't exactly your average turian either. The only thing traditional about him, it seemed, was the colonial face paint he still applied every morning. He scratched the spot again while leaning back into his seat and turning his head to look at his bag.

He had packed all of his personal belongings and most of his weapons into the bag, but he left his armor behind for Sidonis. He couldn't fit that into his bag and the insignia on it would make him a walking target. Plus it seemed fitting that Archangel continue to wear that armor. One of the first pieces of gear he'd have to requisition as a Spectre would be some armor.

The doors on the interior side of the lounge opened and he glanced over to see Kaidan walk through them with a man over his shoulder and a familiar doctor at his side. He stood and hefted the bag over his shoulder as they walked towards him before he moved to intercept them. Kaidan nodded to him, shifting the man over his shoulders, and said,"I'm glad you decided to come with us, Garrus."

Garrus nodded back at him, saying,"I haven't decided if I'm too glad about this yet, but it feels like the right decision."

He never got on too well with Joker, but Doctor Chakwas was almost a mothering figure to the crew of the Normandy, so he got along with her pretty well. When he wasn't injured. Usually she insisted on bed rest if he got shot. She smiled at him as he turned to her, and she said,"It's good to see you, Garrus."

He could feel his brow plates relax and his mandibles tilt inward in the turian equivalent of a smile, a barely noticeable change, as he said,"It's good to see you too, Doc."

Kaidan shifted the man over his shoulders again and said,"Joker would say hello too, but he drank too much at the bar. And he's heavy."

Garrus was suddenly worried as he thought of the lower level's insidious reputation and quickly said,"You mean the bar on the lower level?"

The marine continued to shift, but said,"Yeah."

He turned to Chakwas, urgency entering his voice, and said,"Have you checked his vitals recently? The bartender down there has a bad reputation."

Chakwas seemed eager to put his fears to rest as she said,"I have, and he's merely intoxicated. As to the bartender, well..."

Kaidan broke in, saying,"He was shot."

The turian laughed, saying,"'Bout time!"

The encumbered marine continued through Garrus's exclamation, saying,"Would you two mind if we made our way to the ship? We can talk more on board, but Joker is getting seriously heavy."

Garrus's mandibles twitched slightly in amusement as he stepped aside, gestured with one arm, and said,"Lead on."

-=ME:E=-

Following that, Garrus now found himself staring out the view port of the small, unmarked shuttle and contemplating the past couple of years. They were approaching the final mass relay on their journey to the Citadel and the trip had been relatively silent so far. He looked away from the haunting void outside of the window and at the others inside the passenger cabin. Joker was still sleeping off the alcohol from Afterlife and Chakwas was seated opposite him, looking out her own view port. It seemed he wasn't the only one contemplating things. He hadn't thought about it earlier, too caught up in his own thoughts and being happy to see them, but just what were Chakwas and Joker doing on Omega?

He was uncomfortable with the silence and thoughts of those he left behind on Omega kept plaguing him, so conversation was sounding good right now. He shifted so he was facing Chakwas, and said,"So I never asked before; why were you on Omega?"

She started, jerking back in her seat slightly, and pulled away from the view port. She must have been really out of it. She shifted slightly in her seat before saying,"Omega? Well it was just our first stop after our employers decided we weren't going to be needed. I honestly had no idea where to go, but sticking with Jeff seemed like the best idea."

Garrus could recall that both she and Joker had spent a long time in the Alliance military, were they discharged? He leaned back in his seat and said,"I thought you two were still with the Alliance, what happened?"

Chakwas shifted in her seat again and turned her head back to the view port, she looked uncomfortable. She said,"After the Normandy's destruction and, you know, the old crew was reassigned. I was sent to the Mars Medical Institute, a very respectable position, but it wasn't my kind of work. They had me doing research when I'd rather be on a starship treating soldiers. It was alright for a time.

Joker had it worse off, however. The Alliance brass grounded him and gave him no assignment, he was pretty much discharged without the formalities. He left much earlier than I."

She paused, shifting in her seat again and clasped her hands together in her lap to avoid fidgeting. She seemed even more agitated than before and glanced at Garrus once before returning her gaze to the stars. She continued,"When he left, Joker was approached by Cerberus and they offered him a chance to fly again. I don't know too much about all this, but it seemed natural that he would accept. Flying was his life. They even offered to help treat his disease."

Garrus kept the outburst he felt when she mentioned Cerberus in check, not wanting to interrupt her, but he wasn't quite sure if he felt betrayed or not. Her story certainly was worrying to listen to.

"A few months ago I too was contacted by Cerberus, and I wasn't so desperate to serve aboard a starship that I would join them just for that chance. There was something else, but I feel like a fool now. I..." She paused again, seeming to drift off into thought.

Garrus leaned forward in his seat as she quieted, and when it seemed she wasn't going to continue, he said,"Cerberus, Doc? You mean those people who were doing experiments on the rachni, thorian creepers, killed one of your admirals, and even turned an entire colony of humans into husks? Why would you leave the Alliance to serve with monsters like that?"

Chakwas seemed to sink into her seat, as though she were deflating, and said,"The very same. As for why... It's just... Would you mind if we discussed that later?"

He could feel his mandibles tense against his face, the tough scales on grinding together as he stared at the doctor. Garrus sighed as he leaned back, looking back out of the view port, and said,"Fine, later."

All set to wait out the rest of the trip in silence, Garrus was surprised when Chakwas said,"How about you? Were you on Omega for a C-Sec investigation?"

With a small start he turned back to her, thinking about C-Sec again, about his dereliction of duty. He definitely wasn't a good turian anymore. Hopefully he could still change that. He kept his relaxed posture, but said,"No. I was suspended a few months back for getting rough with a suspect. Before that I had applied for Spectre training and worked in the investigations unit of C-Sec. I was on Omega because I couldn't let the suspect get away like doctor Saleon did. After I dealt with him, I did what I could to clean up Omega's streets."

There, he kept it short and clean, no direct mention of murder or vigilantism. She could probably infer it anyways. He studied her for the brief moment after he finished speaking in which she processed it, and she almost seemed disappointed. He thought back to his words with Shepard, how he should take the right path, not just the easiest one. Something he had preached to his own team, but hardly practiced. He felt disappointed in himself now that he thought about it. Hadn't he taken the easy path by going vigilante?

Neither of them said anything further, both choosing to stare out of their respective view ports and contemplate their decisions. Soon the mass relay came into view, it's shining core washing out the pinpricks of light from the stars. It took only a few moments for them to come alongside the relay, an arc of energy lancing out to encompass their ship, and make the jump to the citadel. Now all that could be seen outside of the window was a rush of blue light with minute variations throughout.

Kaidan stepped into the shuttle cabin from the cockpit and both of its conscious passengers turned to him. He nodded to them both, saying,"We're a few minutes out from the Citadel now and I've sent word ahead that we'll be arriving soon. The Council will want to see you all as soon as we arrive."

Garrus sat up in his seat and said,"I can understand why the Council will want to speak with me, but why Doctor Chakwas and Joker?"

Kaidan was fairly impassive at this question, and said,"It's not my place to say, Garrus. You'll find out more when we arrive. Doctor Chakwas, is there any way to get Joker up and sober before we meet with the Council?"

Chakwas nodded as she stood and said,"If you can get me a medkit I should be able to put something together."

Kaidan disappeared back into the cockpit again only to reemerge a few seconds later with a small case which he promptly handed off to Chakwas.

-=ME:E=-

This visit to the Citadel was certainly different than any of Garrus's previous visits, especially when he considered the purpose. Moments after disembarking they were loaded into a sleek skycar with a stoic C-Sec officer at the wheel and taken directly to the Presidium. They were told to leave their bags at the car, and while Garrus was reluctant he obeyed; it wasn't like he was going to get into a firefight while in a meeting with the Council. After a long elevator ride that made him think of some old, rather snarky conversations with other members of the old team, they emerged into the Council chamber.

Kaidan set off up the stairs immediately, the others following, but rather than go all the way to the top he led them to a door set far to the side. As they approached the door, he said,"The Council would like this meeting to be private, so we're meeting them in one of the conference chambers."

Chakwas and Garrus were silent, Joker grumbled about a headache, and they walked into the room. It was empty save for a large, round table and sparse decorations. There was a window that spanned the entire far wall and the five wards of the Citadel could be seen in the distance, their ends obscured by dust from the Serpent Nebula. Kaidan gestured at the chairs on their side of the table and said,"The Council will be here in a moment. I have some other business to take care of, I'll see you all later."

Garrus nodded, Joker waved a hand, and Chakwas said,"Until then."

Kaidan had only been gone a few moments when Garrus could hear the soft murmur of conversation through the door behind them. The door opened and Councilor Anderson's rich, deep voice suddenly filled the room while Ambassador Udina's harsh, higher voice carried behind it. Anderson stopped at the doorway and said,"We can talk about this later, right now I have a meeting with the other councilors to attend."

He could hear Udina walk away while Anderson's sharp footsteps carried him into view, he looked older and the human formal wear he donned was vaguely similar to his old military uniform. As he reached one of the chairs on the opposite side of the table from them, he looked ready to speak and gave each of them a look over, but was interrupted by a door Garrus hadn't noticed opening behind him. The other three councilors all stepped into the room and took their seats, Tevos, the asari, and Armin, the salarian, between Anderson and Valern, the turian.

Anderson nodded to Garrus, Chakwas, and Joker while Armin studied them all with his quickly darting eyes and Valern steadily gazed at Garrus as though measuring him. Tevos looked around at her companions and said,"Now that we're all here, this meeting of the Council is now in session. Our first order of business is the induction of the C-Sec Officer Garrus Vakarian into the Spectres. Any objections?"

Tevos turned to Armin first, who said,"I do not object to his induction, though I do worry about his recent suspension and time away without leave."

Valern spoke up next, still keenly studying Garrus and saying,"I do not object either, though I do question his dedication to duty and the public good considering the aforementioned."

Anderson took this moment to come to Garrus's defense, saying,"I believe he is well qualified for the job, and given the information surrounding the incident I would say that this proves his willingness to go above the law to get the job done. We can't have a Spectre who fails in his investigations because he is unwilling to make the tough choices."

Tevos turned from her compatriots back to Garrus and said,"Garrus Vakarian, do you accept the invitation?"

Garrus inclined his head and said,"I would be honored, Councilors."

Inside Garrus was worried about his team, worried about how well he would measure against the Council's expectations, and worried about whether or not he was making the right choice. It would have been easy to stay with his team and continue his work on Omega, but leaving to become a Spectre felt like the right choice. Spectres were defenders of the galaxy, finding threats and eliminating them – usually before they became threats. No, he wasn't worried anymore, he had made the right choice instead of the easy choice this time.

Tevos spoke again, breaking him from his thoughts,"Good, now as to a ship, crew, and supplies, I do believe the other councilor's can answer that."

Anderson and Valern exchanged a look while Armin tapped away at an omni-tool. Valern leaned forward, his elbows on the table and his hands folded in front of his face, and said,"Considering the Normandy's success as a joint turian-human venture both our governments agreed upon the development of a new and improved vessel, but this time the salarian government offered their assistance."

Anderson leaned forwards as well, but kept his hands on the table as he said,"As for crew and supplies: you will be receiving supplies from the Council itself, rather than any independent government. The regular crew will be chosen from both the human and turian militaries."

Armin looked up from his omni-tool, and said,"Since Saren's defection we analyzed the model for the Spectres and concluded that it was in need of change. Saren worked independently with little contact and oversight. With the late Commander Shepard we attempted to rectify this, requesting periodic progress reports.

We found that this worked quite well, but the Commander's success also gave us a new model to base the Spectres upon. He worked with a team of trusted specialists and soldiers to accomplish his mission instead of working as a solo agent. We will alert you to any possible candidates for your team, but the ultimate choice is up to you. I have forwarded a dossier of the first and the location of your ship."

Anderson gestured to Joker and Chakwas, saying,"I also believe you already have a good doctor and pilot with you."

Joker, it appeared, could barely contain his excitement and Chakwas likewise looked elated, but was much more subdued. Garrus himself was having a hard time believing it. Following the destruction of the Normandy he had thought the Council ready to sweep them all under the rug, but it was nice to see. He also understood the Council well enough to know that aside from Anderson they probably weren't doing this in preparation for threats like the reapers, but as a general safety precaution. He looked to Anderson, who seemed to think along the same lines as he nodded to him.

Anderson looked away suddenly and activated his omni-tool, rapidly tapping away at it, his expressions rapidly varying as he did so. The other councilors ignored this, and Tevos said,"As for your first assignment -"

Suddenly, Anderson looked up from his omni-tool and, with urgency, said,"Excuse me, councilor, but I have just received some intel that may affect our decision. May I?"

If she was at all perturbed by his interruption she did not show it as she nodded to him. Anderson swiftly tapped a few keys on his omni-tool again and the lights in the room dimmed. A screen fell over the large window until the room was darkened while a holographic projection plumed above the table. It was of a planet, rather unremarkable and just like any other planet, but considering Anderson's urgency it almost seemed to have an ominous presence. The group waited the moment patiently for Anderson to speak, he said,"Freedom's Progress, a human colony within the Traverse. It's gone silent, a total communications blackout. Alliance intelligence believes it to be the fourth colony in a series of colonies that have just vanished.

The previous colonies were found with the structures intact, no signs of struggle, and no colonists whatsoever. Usually the Alliance would send their own team to investigate, but there is something special about this that might warrant the attention of a Spectre. Before communications were lost a human veteran of the Skyllian Blitz placed a request for pickup, not for himself, but for someone he had found during his trading run. The soldier he found identified himself as Lieutenant Commander John Shepard."

Garrus could hear Chakwas gasp beside him, but he continued to stare at the planet above them. Anderson continued, saying,"This isn't the first time we've received transmissions like this, but usually they're false – people looking to exploit the situation. The man who sent in the call is trusted and he has no angle when it comes to this. He already receives generous payments from the Alliance for his injuries. Alliance intelligence believes this to be genuine, especially when previous investigations are taken into account."

Tevos looked to Anderson, she appeared skeptical, but curious, and said,"What other information has the Alliance uncovered?"

"After the First-Contact War a group splintered off of the Alliance that called themselves Cerberus. They are considered to be a pro-human terrorist organization with immense funding. The Alliance has been keeping a closer eye on them since they murdered one of our admirals two years ago.

Intelligence uncovered a project, named Lazarus, that sapped much of the organization's funding. They weren't able to penetrate too deeply, but from what they could find it was being personally directed by the Illusive Man, Cerberus's leader. The name of the project is significant, and comes from a human religious text. I won't bore you with the details, but the gist of it is that a powerful man was able to bring another back from the dead."

The other councilors looked skeptical, concerned, or accepting of the theory, and Tevos turned to Joker and Doctor Chakwas, saying,"We have been informed of your previous association with Cerberus, do either of you know anything about this?"

Joker shook his head, looking sheepish, but Chakwas leaned on the table much as Anderson had and said,"When Cerberus approached me they knew that while I was unhappy with my new posting I wasn't as desperate as Mister Moreau. Instead of merely offering me the chance to serve aboard a starship they told me that I would instead be given the chance to serve under Commander Shepard again.

They even provided me with details regarding the process they were using and the scary thing was, the science behind the process was sound. With the proper resources and people they could bring a man back from the dead."

At first Garrus was unsure, to bring a man back from the dead? After looking back over his career, though, he realized that he had seen weirder things. Killed weirder things. Looking around at the others he could see some, like Anderson, ready to believe that it could be true. Valern looked skeptical while Armin looked to be considering the possibility, and Tevos seemed to be considering something different altogether. Garrus felt it was at least worth checking out.

The holographic projection diffused while the screen raised from the window and the lights slowly returned to their previous brightness. Tevos looked to the various councilors, each nodding, reluctantly in Valern's case, to her in turn. She turned back to Garrus and said,"Taking all of this into consideration, we have decided that your first assignment is to investigate the status of John Shepard. If he is alive, he should be brought in for questioning. I also propose a second assignment: to investigate the abduction of these human colonies."

Anderson left his agreement unspoken, while Armin nodded, and Valern said,"I agree. Whatever or whoever is perpetrating these abductions could become a threat to colonies within Citadel space."

The group stood and Tevos said,"You have your orders now, Vakarian. Good luck."

Tevos and Armin both left through the door they entered the room from, but Valern made his way around the table towards Garrus. As the councilor stood in front of him he inclined his head slightly and said,"Councilor, what can I do for you?"

Valern didn't answer the question, instead he said,"Since you will be commanding members of the turian military, the Hierarchy has deemed it fit that your military commission be reinstated and you be granted the rank of captain."

Garrus was still trying to get over his new Spectre status and the possibility that Shepard could be alive, so this hardly rattled him, but he inclined his head farther, saying,"It is an honor to serve the people."

Valern seemed satisfied with his response, but still went on to say,"Your history with C-Sec is both a boon and a curse. Your undisciplined actions will make many doubt your commitment to the job. Don't disappoint us."

The councilor nodded to Garrus once before he too left through the rear door and Anderson approached them. Anderson held out his hand, which Garrus took, and said,"It's good to see you Garrus."

Garrus shook the offered hand and said,"It's good to see you too, Councilor."

"Ah, it's just Anderson."Anderson chuckled as he said this, and he turned towards Joker and Chakwas, saying,"It's good to see you as well, Doctor. Joker."

Joker stood from his seat without assistance, which surprised Anderson, who said,"Joker, you get new legs?"

Garrus chuckled and said," I was wondering the same thing."

The bearded man raised one leg, saying,"No, these are still the old ones, they just got an upgrade."

Anderson turned to Chakwas and said,"I thought his condition was incurable?"

The doctor nodded to Anderson while she said,"His condition isn't curable, but there are treatments to strengthen the bones. He was only half-finished with the treatments when Cerberus decided they didn't need us."

Joker waved a hand dismissively, saying,"Enough about my legs, what was up with Udina earlier?"

Anderson sighed and leaned against the table as Garrus said,"Yeah, I'm curious as well, he didn't sound too happy."

Anderson looked across the table and out the large window as he said,"I'm finalizing a proposal to the Council to allow membership to some of the other Citadel races, like the Elcor and Volus. Another part of the proposal is re-opening diplomatic relations with the Quarians. Not quite giving them an embassy again, but we need to start mending fences if we want to be ready for the Reapers."

Garrus thought the idea had its merits, but said,"That's a pretty big step, I'm not so sure if it's a great idea to just throw something like that out there."

Anderson laughed softly before he said,"I already figured that I would meet resistance on something like this, so I've been subtly working issues that will help build upon this into the regular meetings of the Council. Udina's actually been surprisingly helpful in that regard, even if he is an ass."

Joker grinned at this while Chakwas tried to cover her smile and Garrus chuckled. Anderson pushed off of the table and said,"Enough about politics, my days are filled with politics. Let's go see your new ship, Captain."

-=ME:E=-

After a handful of long elevator rides and a short skycar ride Garrus found himself walking down a long corridor with Anderson, Chakwas, and Joker. As they approached the doors set into the end of the hall, Anderson said,"I'm not sure what you're expecting, but I think you'll be surprised nonetheless. I know I was when I first saw it."

None of them said anything further as the doors opened onto a dock similar to the Normandy's old one above C-Sec headquarters, but it was surprisingly empty. A quick glance at Anderson assured him that nothing was wrong, so Garrus looked out towards the Wards in hopes of catching a glimpse of it as it pulled into port. Anderson continued to walk towards the docking cradle and he followed, still glancing out towards the open bay entrance periodically. As they neared the cradle, he could see Kaidan and what appeared to be Engineering Officer Adams.

Both of them stood at attention and saluted them, Kaidan saying,"Councilor, Captain."

Anderson saluted back, saying,"At ease, Commander." He turned to Garrus, who was shaking hands with Adams, and said,"Staff Commander Alenko will be your XO and Adams will be chief of engineering, barring any objections of course."

Garrus shook his head, saying,"No objections here, Councilor."

Anderson laughed and said,"As I thought."

Kaidan nodded to Garrus and said,"Ready to see the ship, sir?"

Garrus raised his hands, saying,"Please Kaidan, it's just Garrus. Also, I'm definitely ready."

He looked towards the bay doors as Kaidan sent a message through his omni-tool, but Joker's cry drew his attention away. He could see Joker gaping at something and he followed his gaze until it landed on the empty space of the hangar. The air distorted and shimmered before him as the silhouette of a large frigate appeared with a bright flash. The light dimmed and faded as the cloaking field dissipated and revealed the ship, its hull almost twice as large as the original Normandy. The small fin that usually rested near the end of the ship was moved forwards and ran almost from the tip to the rear of the vessel. Aside from those changes, it looked just like the original Normandy.

Anderson straightened his posture proudly beside him and said,"I give you the Citadel Council Space Vehicle Normandy, Stealth Reconnaissance Two."

Garrus and Joker leaned on the railing as they both examined the ship while Chakwas stood close by and said,"She's beautiful."

Joker scoffed and said,"Are you kidding me? This thing isn't just beautiful! It's like a goddess given form!"

Garrus felt that Joker was exaggerating, but he couldn't help but admire the main guns, both free of their chambers and slung low on the hull. Thanix cannons. Apparently the Hierarchy wasn't kidding around if they decided to let those out of their hands. He pushed himself off of the railing as he took one last look at the ship, he was eager to see the interior. He turned to Anderson, who offered his hand again and said,"A fine ship, Captain. Good luck on your mission."

Garrus shook his hand firmly and said,"Thank you, Councilor. Until my next, er first report."

Anderson chuckled and said,"Until then."

Garrus walked the short distance to the Normandy's docking port and found the others waiting for him. As he entered the docking chamber the hatch closed behind him and a familiar VI said,"Beginning decontamination sequence."

-=ME:E=-


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Sorry my update rate is abysmal, I've been dealing with college and transportation issues. Enough with my excuses - enjoy the chapter.

-=ME:E=-

Tali stared in shock at the N7 marine in front of her as he removed his helmet. That voice was so familiar, but it was impossible. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and not from the sprint to stop Prazza from doing something stupid. She could feel her hopes rising inside of her from that familiar voice and feelings she had been forced to let go began to stir in her gut. The weapons, the N7 insignia, the biotics, and that voice...

As the neck seals of the helmet hissed open and the helmet began to slide off of his head, Tali stared and whispered, "Shepard?"

The helmet came off and was promptly dropped into the snow next to the two pistols as the face of a dead man was revealed to her. There were new scars, and a large medical patch covered almost half of his face, but it was definitely Shepard's face. She felt a fluttering inside of her chest as he stared back at her with his blue-gray eyes, a grin on his face. He closed the distance between them, lifted her in a great hug, and said, "Tali! You have no idea how good it is to see you!"

She laughed at his jubilant greeting and enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her, the quick turn they did, but it was all over in a second. He placed her back on her feet, still grinning, and he said, "And look at you. Are you taller? Is that a new suit? How have you been?"

"I've been good." This moment, now, was probably the happiest Tali had been in almost two years now; she could hardly believe it. Now that she thought about it, it was hardly believable, how was he here? Perhaps she had fallen asleep on the trip to colony, and this was all going to turn out another horrible nightmare. She removed her hands from Shepard's shoulders and took a step back as his slipped from her waist, his lingering touch making her shiver slightly. Her feelings of elation almost peaked again at this, but she pushed them back down as his grin disappeared.

"Shepard, I'm happy to see you, but..." Tali began, absentmindedly wringing her hands as Shepard's eyes left hers and drifted to the gear at his feet, "... you're dead."

As the words passed through her mask Tali braced herself for the inevitable return to consciousness; the burning wreckage of the Normandy exploding and sucking Shepard out into the vacuum of space. She'd had dreams like this before, less so as time went on, but they still haunted her sleep some nights. As Shepard turned back to look at her, his eyes a fitting analogue to the arctic landscape around them, she expected any words he produced to be cut off. She turned her eyes away, waiting for the dream to end.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard watched as Tali seemed to shrink into herself, her arms wrapping around her middle, and he definitely felt any joy at his realization of her identity escaping him. Here in front of him was a piece of his past that made him want to smile, but he could only think of his death and his revival. The burning station and EDI's assistance. With a small start Shepard realized that as an AI the quarians would find her much harder to trust than he had. Not to mention Cerberus was responsible for his resurrection. He seemed to have too many bombs to drop in this conversation.

Deciding it would be best to start simple, he said, "I was."

Yeah, simple.

Tali started out of her stupor, looking back at him again and, haltingly, said, "Joker, he told us you were gone. How are you here?"

Shepard could feel some of his previous anger building again as he said, "I don't know why, but I woke up in a Cerberus facility a few days ago. I'm having trouble remembering everything..."

As soon as the word "Cerberus" left his lips Tali's posture shifted from relaxed to alert, and several of the quarians in his line of sight also stiffened in response. One of her arms slid back to rest on the handle of her shotgun as she said, warily, "Shepard, you know what Cerberus is capable of and who knows what they did to you, or if you're even really you. I – I want to believe that you're really you, that my old captain is alive again..."

Shepard felt some of the terror from his awakening return to him as he contemplated this silently, and he furiously wracked his mind in search of something, anything to prove to her he was John Shepard. Something confidential between the two of them, that only he or she would know. He could feel a dull ache pulse in his head as memories of a brief encounter with the geth in the Armstrong Nebula darted back into his mind. He placed a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the tense posture of the entire group, and said, "Did that data on the geth I gave you help on your pilgrimage?"

As her posture slumped in relief the other quarians murmured in confusion amongst themselves until Tali leaned forward to hug Shepard. She said, "Yes, yes it did."

This embrace was less enthusiastic and more brief, but before anyone could say anything a cool voice broke in over both radio channels. EDI said, "Shepard, I have managed to utilize the alien vessel's communications array to trace the signal that is controlling the security mechs."

The entire congregation was silent for a moment before Prazza, the foolish quarian from before, said, "Who in the stars was that? What have you done with our ship?"

The agitated marine stalked over to them as Shepard thought of the most delicate way to put this. Prazza now stood with them, weapon ready, but not quite pointing in his direction. He furrowed his brow and said, "That was EDI. She's the reason I was able to make it out of that Cerberus facility, but ah..."

Prazza seemed to relax momentarily as he glanced around, saying, "I don't see anyone else around here..."

Tali could see Shepard's discomfort, and she noticed the "but" so she said, "Shepard, but what?"

He bent to retrieve his pistols, shaking the snow from them as he said, "You're not going to like this very much."

Prazza seemed alert again by the slight shifting of his legs that Shepard could see as he retrieved his helmet as well. Why did he drop all this again? He could have simply docked it all on his armor. Tali shifted as well, but it seemed reminiscent of a posture she'd assumed back on the Normandy; weight on one leg, arms crossed and head slightly cocked. She said, "I'm not going to like what?"

Shepard brushed some snow from the environmental seals before he pulled the helmet over his head, fiddling with the seals some more before he was satisfied. EDI seemed to have anticipated his unspoken request, because the mask of his helmet flipped and clicked open. He turned to his expectant audience and said, "EDI is an artificial intelligence."

Prazza snapped his rifle up to Shepard immediately while Tali balanced her posture out and the gaggle of quarians in the background all readied their weapons, some even checking their omni-tools. Tali suddenly found his bag extremely interesting, while Prazza said, "Working with an AI! I knew you weren't trustworthy."

Shepard merely cocked an eyebrow at the hostile marine as he slung the bag around so it was in front of him. Tali seemed to eye the bag suspiciously, but Shepard had trouble telling with quarians.

-=ME:E=-

EDI could see the various, but similar, reactions of the aliens around them at the mention of her being. She understood that AI had a questionable reputation, but why would these aliens in particular be so hostile? Where they were affable before, some more than others, they were now hostile and distrustful. She knew nothing specific of galactic history and nothing in particular about any non-human species. Perhaps this species, these people, had a bad history with AI. She decided it was worth asking later, any further contemplation on the subject would have to run in the background as the conversation had picked up again.

The alien Shepard appeared to be familiar with, Tali, spoke in a manner conforming with recorded templates of hesitance. It was different from watching a human speak, as only the flickering of a light on her mask alerted EDI visually to who was talking. She said, "Shepard, first you tell me about Cerberus bringing you back from the dead, now you tell me that you're working with an AI?"

Her view tilted forward until she could see her own blue box sitting within the open bag; a highly advanced piece of experimental technology developed just for her containment. Or so she had been told by the group of scientists that programmed and trained her. Considering the reactions towards any mention of Cerberus so far she had come to doubt much of what had been taught to her. Sure, how to build programs and find weak points in foreign networks were solid, logical facts that she did not doubt. Any beliefs, opinions, or operating procedures were cast into doubt, though.

This Tali seemed to trust Shepard, but would his relationship with her damage his preexisting one with this alien? She found the thought unpleasant, especially since she had come find his company preferable and did rely upon him for her continued survival. Any turmoil caused by merely working with her could cause discord in that relationship. She tried in vain to find something, anything, she could say in this situation to prove herself a trustworthy character. However, she knew too little about these aliens and Tali in particular to voice an argument.

Now that she thought about it, the only reason she could argue her case with Shepard in the first place was because she had helped him. Hopefully Shepard saw merit in keeping her around and didn't dispose of her because of all this. Her view tilted backwards and she could see the aliens again.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard had only looked at the blue box for a moment, but no thoughts of abandoning EDI crossed his mind. He could think of no logical reason, one that couldn't be shot down instantly that is, that would make the quarians and Tali trust EDI. He only had his experience and what he felt in his gut. He looked back at Tali and said, "I can't convince you to trust her, but she's the reason I'm here, now, and not in a Cerberus facility. I don't know why I'm alive again, but I don't want to spend this new life in Cerberus hands. I trust her."

Shepard zipped the bag shut to punctuate those final words and swung the bag back to his rear again, watching the quarians in front of him for a reaction. Prazza still seemed hostile while Tali continued to stand in her previous stance. If the situation were more urgent Shepard might be sweating under this kind of pressure, but the weapons of the various quarians didn't worry him for some reason. Instead he was internally sweating, placing an old friendship on the line for his new one didn't seem like the best idea. He hoped he was just being too dramatic about all this.

Tali's posture relaxed and she uncrossed her arms, Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as she said, "I trust _you_ Shepard, but tell her to keep out of our tech and our ship."

Shepard nodded to her gratefully as EDI said, whether it was over both radio channels or just his own he didn't know, "I have withdrawn myself from their vessel, Shepard."

Apparently it was only his radio as Tali had turned to Prazza, saying, "Stop pointing your rifle at Shepard already! I thought you would have learned by now that it's a bad idea..."

The marine visibly winced and shifted his legs, probably recalling the vicious sweep that tossed him on his ass earlier. He lowered his weapon haltingly, reluctantly, but otherwise did not acknowledge Tali's chastening. He turned with a final look at Shepard before stalking back to the group of quarians. His old friend sighed, muttering, "That _bosh'tet's _been giving me trouble ever since this mission started."

Shepard's interest was perked as he overheard this, and he said, "You're here on a mission?"

Tali seemed a little surprised, as if she hadn't meant to say that out loud, but pushed past it and said, "The Admiralty Board has given me a mission, but I can't tell you much about it, sorry. Why I'm here is only a side trip, a recent addition to it. We're searching for a quarian here on his pilgrimage, but we hadn't expected the colony to be so empty. Shepard, the colonists – where are they, do you know what happened here?"

His brow furrowed as he recalled the insectoid aliens he briefly confronted only a few hours before, how they had managed to escape with the colonists. He clenched a fist to check his anger and said, "A few hours before you arrived, I fought with some aliens. They were tall, brown, and looked like insects, but only four limbs – more like you or me. They escaped with these pods, tall things large enough to hold a human. I could see _people_ inside them."

Tali crossed her arms again, more in thought this time rather than in suspicion, and said, "I almost thought you were talking about the rachni, but I've never heard of anything like that."

Shepard thought about the possessed alien, how it knew him, and he considered telling Tali about it, but he felt like he should understand what had happened. He hardly had any idea, but the feeling that he knew something and couldn't quite remember persisted. He'd mention it later, when he did remember everything, but for now he said, "Would you like any help retrieving this quarian? He might have a better idea what happened to the colonists if, as I suspect, he's the one behind the activation of the colony's mechs."

Tali nodded, saying, "Your help would be welcome. Also, it's good to see you again, Shepard."

A handful of the quarians, Prazza included, looked a little unsure in their general body language, but they said nothing as Shepard walked with Tali towards the group. Shepard took the moment to make a casual inspection of their gear, older assault rifles and several grenades between them. These were most likely basic grunts, but if he was remembering quarians correctly, then even their version of the basics was perfect for the type of combat they'd be going into. Most quarians had an affinity for machines, and these mechs were probably no different.

When they arrived, Tali spoke to the group as a whole, saying, "Let's go get our lost fleet-brother."

-=ME:E=-

There was always one part of the job that Jacob hated, and that was waiting when he could be out there making a difference. One of the reasons he disliked his posting on Lazarus Station was because the whole job was nothing but waiting. Waiting for any small security disturbance, waiting for any new upgrades that needed to be made to the security force. Waiting for them to finish rebuilding the Commander. Now on board the Thermopylae, previously the Normandy SR-2, he was waiting on Miranda to finish her meeting with the Illusive Man. He hated waiting.

He let his mind wander, trying to take his mind off of the waiting, and he thought back on the past couple of days. Shepard had woken up earlier than expected, broken free from the lab, stole their new AI and a shuttle, and escaped Lazarus Station. So many of the Illusive Man's ploys to gain Shepard's loyalty, hiring Helmsman Moreau and Doctor Chakwas, designing the new stealth recon frigate, and others Jacob likely didn't know about were all scrapped when the Commander made his escape. The only remaining token from that whole plan was this ship, now named after a different battle from Earth's history. It seemed the Illusive Man had a thing for the classical era.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the doors to the conference room opening, Miranda walking out of the room confidently. She did everything confidently, and sometimes it bothered Jacob, but most of the time it rolled just fine with him. She usually had a right to be so confident. He pushed off of the wall he was leaning on as she said, "It's been confirmed, Freedom's Progress has been hit. Also, intel from our agents within the Alliance suggests that Shepard may be there."

Jacob was alert at this news, and he said, "What was the intel? Are we sure that he's there?"

She walked past him, towards the armory, saying, "It was a message to Alliance command from the colony, some old veteran claimed to have found Commander Shepard."

Jacob nodded and followed her, saying, "No way that's a coincidence."

As they entered the CIC, Miranda took her place at the holographic projection of the galaxy map and said, "ED, plot a course to Freedom's Progress and send it to the helmsman. I want our ETA ASAP."

A cool, flat, male voice replied, "Affirmative, Operative Lawson."

Jacob suppressed a grimace at the flat tone of ED's voice; he felt that it was lacking something compared to the almost dulcet tones of EDI's. He reasoned that it might have something to do with the fact that ED was a conglomeration of VIs cloned from EDI's base code structure, rather than a true AI. After only a handful of seconds, ED's flat voice came over the CIC again, saying, "Course plotted, we will be making the jump to FTL in approximately 7.3 seconds. Our ETA to Freedom's Progress is approximately 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 16 seconds."

Jacob stood at the bottom of the command podium, looking at the galaxy map, and he said, "Miranda, if Shepard is still on Freedom's Progress, what will we do?"

Miranda turned away from the holographic projection and placed a hand on her hip, saying, "The Illusive Man has given us clearance to attempt retrieval, but it isn't our primary objective. Investigating these attacks, are."

He nodded, but said, "If we do attempt to retrieve him, you will try diplomacy first, right?"

Miranda turned back to the map and stared at it for a long moment, saying, "At this point I don't think diplomacy will work. He has no reason to trust us, even less after the debacle at Lazarus, not to mention all of those rogue cells he eliminated tainting his opinion of our organization.

If he'll listen, then I say it's worth a shot, but I honestly don't think he will. Cerberus has been and still is the enemy to him."

-=ME:E=-

After the past few days of fighting, exhaustion, and confusion Shepard was glad to see Tali again. She was a familiar figure from his past, something for him to focus on. Now that he actually had the time to inspect her as they made their way through the colony he couldn't help but notice that she had grown in more ways than just an inch taller. From what he could remember, she had an average figure with broader shoulders and hips than a human woman, but she also seemed young. Now, that average figure had developed into a curvy and athletic body.

It was with a slow-dawning horror that Shepard realized he was thinking of and looking at Tali, a little sister if he ever had one, like he would Liara. Then it was with another start of realization that Liara emerged in his mind again, as did his activities with Jean Whitson the night previous. He could feel his stomach constrict and ache as he thought of how he had wronged the woman he was pretty sure he loved. Suddenly he felt a boiling rage build inside of him, but he couldn't explain why, and he could feel his back hunch and his fists clench. A hand shaking his shoulder broke him from his thoughts and his first instinct was to lash out and defend himself.

A filtered voice near him said, "Shepard, are you OK?"

He reigned the urge in as he looked to his side to see Tali gazing at him through her mask, even without a facial expression to project her feelings she still seemed concerned. Shepard could feel cooling tear tracks on his cheeks, and he was glad for the mask on his helmet at that moment. His heart was pounding furiously within his chest and he felt short of breath, what was happening? What was wrong with him? When he thought of the entire situation all corners of his mind clamored for attention, creating a jumbled mess of thought and emotion that left him confused.

He collected himself and noticed that the entire group had stopped moving when he had, but aside from Prazza and a few others, they seemed more focused on maintaining a perimeter. He nodded at Tali, relaxing his posture, and she reluctantly released him with a final look before she continued moving. Prazza watched him a second longer and Shepard took a deep breath before he joined the group. For now he needed to focus on the present, just like he had told himself before, but this time he would sort it out when he had a chance. He wasn't going to straight avoid it like he had last time.

With that silent resolution he prepped his heavy pistol, ready to support the quarians in any skirmish they might encounter, but now he had other thoughts trying to grab his attention. It was almost like a harsh buzzing, something he could ignore for now, but it would probably wear on him with time.

-=ME:E=-

Tali wasn't quite decided on how she felt about this mission now that Shepard had been discovered – happy, excited, confused, suspicious, sad? All of these emotions were warring with each other over her mind, but she was almost used to it. After Shepard's death she had mourned, of course, but life on the flotilla didn't stop for one girl's sadness. There was work to do, and her sense of duty was too strong to let her sulk in the shared quarters while there were repairs to be made or lab work to be done. So she pushed it aside, just as she did now, and focused on her work. Well, she tried to anyways.

On the Normandy Tali had greatly admired Shepard, something she kept trying to tell herself was a little girl's crush, but it was something she had to give up when he was gone. Now though, she couldn't help but sneak a few glances at him as they walked. So much for focusing on the job. Earlier, he had seemed to just drift off into his own world, his body physically withdrawing itself the longer he stood there. The whole situation had only made the emotions twisting in her gut worse.

She shook her head lightly, she needed to focus on the job and be ready for any more of the security mechs. Now that she thought about it, where were all of the security mechs? She couldn't recall seeing any since the first few encounters before meeting up with Shepard. Echoing her thoughts, Prazza said, "Where are all of the security mechs? I expected more resistance."

Behind her she could hear Shepard's muffled voice, his helmet not projecting or transmitting his words. She turned to face him as his voice began to carry through to the rest of them, saying, "I asked EDI about it, she says that Veetor's changed something in the signal he's broadcasting. Personally I think he might be gathering the mechs to form a strong defensive position."

Prazza muttered something about the AI that Tali couldn't quite make out, but she understood the sentiment – she wasn't too happy about Shepard's traveling companion either. Regardless of her dislike for the AI, she trusted Shepard and from her experience he had a way of finding trustworthy individuals to work with. She shifted her weight to her other leg and said, "It's a sound theory, but I still don't understand why he would need to defend himself from us. Surely he could have identified us as fellow quarians by now."

Prazza spoke up at this point, saying, "It wasn't brought up during the briefings, but I know Veetor. He's a little unstable and if his suit was ruptured then he could be delirious from infection."

Tali sighed and said, "Let's just hope he comes to his senses when we try and speak with him."

Shepard shifted uneasily and said, "I just thought of something." He didn't wait for the question before he answered it. "Considering the size of the colony's security forces, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that they would have heavy mechs."

Prazza and several other quarians also shifted uneasily, muttering, while a young voice she couldn't pick out of the crowd cursed. On its own a heavy mech would be devastating against their old assault riles and few grenades, but the possibility of multiple heavy mechs with light security mech support was nearly terrifying. Nearly.

Tali looked down at her shotgun, the heavily modified spectre model she had gotten while on board the Normandy, and then back at Shepard. He had pulled off much tougher fights before with less people. She beckoned the two of them over and, as they drew close, she said, "According to the scans from our fly-by we're only a block or so away from the communications center Veetor is holed up in. I say we carefully scout out the building and if we do have to fight our way through the mechs, make good use of these prefab units. Their walls are strong enough to stop auto-cannon fire and RPGs, not for too long, but they'll hold."

Prazza gestured to a handful of the marines, saying, "We have enough grenades to take down one heavy mech easily enough. More than that, I don't know."

Tali wasn't sure that blowing all of the grenades on one mech was a good idea and she said, "We'll whittle down their shields and armor first, our weapons aren't so old that we don't have ammunition modifications."

Shepard shifted the pistol in his hands and said, "You should assign dedicated fire teams, a couple to focus on the heavies while the remainder clear out the light mechs. Speaking of which, EDI might have a solution to that problem. Would you mind if she joined in on your comm frequency?"

Prazza bristled at the suggestion but said nothing as Tali stopped herself from trying to find a reason to say no. Right now she couldn't be picky about the kind of help she was getting. She nodded to Shepard, saying, "We should all move to the same frequency for this plan anyways."

Prazza hesitated before he pulled up his omni-tool, sending an order out to the surrounding quarians. It took a moment for the group to change frequencies before EDI's, in Tali's opinion, eerily cool voice said, "I have isolated this conversation to us four as I suspect your comrades would be uncomfortable conversing with me."

Prazza mumbled something which Tali didn't catch, but EDI apparently had as she said, "My apologies, I do not mean to cause discomfort."

The sour marine said nothing more and the AI took this as her cue to continue, she said, "When the Commander and I escaped from the Cerberus station I was able to produce a special tech mine that interfered with the security mechs' IFF protocols en mass. I will require more omni-gel in order to do so again, but I do believe that these mechs will be just as susceptible to the hack."

Tali nodded as she brought up her omni tool and said, "I have a similar program in my omni-tool, but it only works over a small number of mechs."

Prazza still sounded sour about EDI, but he said, "At least this will give us an edge over any mechs Veetor might have under his control."

-=ME:E=-

Two of the firing teams had scouted around the other sides of the warehouse that served as the colony's communications center, but both reported back that the only access into the building was through the main entrance. Shepard took another glance out of the prefab unit windows at the dozen or so mechs all positioned defensively around the large doors. There was only one heavy mech, thankfully. They were merely waiting for the scouts to return before they began their offensive. A few of the quarians seemed nervous, from he could tell, but the remainder were optimistic. Prazza had gone with scouting teams and Tali was leaned against one of the walls much as he was.

Nearby, some of the marines were conversing quietly amongst themselves, one of them even going so far as laughing at something one of the others had said. It was nice to see them relaxed and enjoying themselves, it made him feel rather optimistic about their plan, too. On the other hand, this extra time spent waiting for the others let his mind wander back to his previous thoughts. He just didn't know what happened – why had he gone to a woman he had known less than a day? He knew he purposefully didn't think about Liara and the gaps in his memory, but that doesn't explain why he had completely forgotten about both of them.

He considered for a moment that his recovery might not be a linear thing, that memories would come and go as they pleased. The thought was terrifying to him. He had to remember, needed to remember not only his past life, but also the things that were happening now. He wouldn't know how bad this problem could get, not yet at least. Apparently he was looking rather out of it again, and it was probably easier to notice this time – his helmet was off, because Tali had walked over to speak with him again. She poked his shoulder hard enough that it shifted his arm slightly and said, "Hey, are you OK? You keep staring at the walls like you want to kill them."

Shepard smiled at her, still thinking about his problem, and he said, "I've been having trouble with my memory ever since I woke up. Things are just coming to me as I go, and earlier, when I held up the group I had realized that I was forgetting some of the stuff I had only recently remembered."

While it was technically true, it wasn't the reason why he had stopped, he still wasn't so sure on that one. His smile had slipped earlier and he continued, "The thing I nearly forgot was also extremely important to me, so it was a little unsettling."

Tali nodded and leaned on the wall across the window from him; he doubted she understood what he was going through, but it was nice to have someone he knew he could talk to about this. All of these thoughts about Liara and Tali actually brought up something else that was related - the rest of the crew. He said, "Tali, the rest of the crew – what happened to them, do you know?"

Tali look out the window at the overcast sky and said, "I haven't spoken with any of them in a long time now, but just after the attack I had gone back to the Migrant Fleet. Garrus mentioned some plans to join up with C-Sec again and Liara and Wrex just disappeared – I haven't heard from them at all.

I don't know much about the Alliance personnel or Kaidan, but Pressly and a few other crew didn't make it out."

While it was a relief to hear that almost everyone survived, Shepard was hoping to hear a little more about how they were all doing. Even as he thought this he could remember more about some of the crew, Navigator Pressly and Engineer Adams included. Shepard sighed and said, "Pressly was a good officer."

Tali looked away from the window, nodding her head, but said nothing. He settled into his spot on the wall, ready to wait out the remaining minutes for the scouts to return, but it seemed the universe wanted to throw another problem his way. One of the marines walked up to them briskly, working his omni-tool furiously as he did so, and Tali pushed herself off of the wall to address him.

The pilot tapped away at his omni-tool for a second longer before he said, "Tali'Zorah, we just got a notification from the ship – it's sensor's have detected a vessel on approach less than an hour from the colony."

Shepard looked over from his spot on the wall and Tali lost her relaxed posture as she said, "Have they attempted contact? Also, have you been able to identify them?"

The pilot shook his head, saying, "Sorry ma'am, they only dropped out of FTL a few minutes ago and we've received no transmissions yet."

Tali crossed her arms, as if she were thinking about something, and she said, "I want you and your co-pilot to head back to the ship and be ready to leave. We don't know who they are and what they want. Take another marine with you, just in case."

"Well surely you'd need the help more -"

"We'll be fine, our plan will work even with a few marines absent. Now go." Tali shifted her weight back on one leg, the air of her crossed arms now becoming authoritative rather than curious.

The marine snapped off a quick salute, saying, "Ma'am."

As the pilot and co-pilot left with an extra marine in tow Prazza and the scouts walked in through the same door. They gave each other curious looks but continued to their destinations and Shepard pushed himself off of his own spot on the wall. He scooped his helmet up off of a nearby table and began to pull it on his head as Tali filled Prazza in on their latest development. He worked the neck seals thoroughly, the haunting memory of his death passing by in a flash, as the surrounding quarians began to prepare their own equipment.

He joined the group at the tail-end of the briefing just in time to hear Prazza quietly say, "I still think it was a bad idea to send those men off like that."

Shepard took another step, so he was standing close to Tali and Prazza and he said, "I'm sure we'll be fine. If anything I think we might be over-prepared."

Prazza shook his head as he stepped away from them both to join the other quarians by the windows and Shepard looked at Tali in confusion. He felt that with these kinds of preparations they'd steamroll the mechs. Tali drew her pistol with a sigh before she fiddled with its ammunition settings and said, "He doesn't know you like I do. He doesn't know that with some grenades and a pistol things like this are like breathing for you."

Shepard smiled and said, "Well I wouldn't go that far..."

The cool, artificial voice of EDI said, "When taking into account your complete disregard for any threat the mechs might have posed this morning it would seem that the praise is well earned, Shepard."

Tali seemed to be staring through him at the bag hanging over his shoulder, and Shepard could feel the dislike in her gaze. Shepard didn't feel like getting between a quarian and an AI in what would likely be an argument filled with amusing ignorance on both sides. He walked around Tali towards the other quarians, saying, "Come on, let's get this over with."

Tali followed and distractedly replied, "Right."

Several of the quarians were leaning against the wall near the windows, waiting for the order to take out the glass and begin their assault while the remainder were waiting by the rear door, waiting on the same order. Shepard walked up to the group by the door with Tali while Prazza stood by the windows. A few of them glanced at him and Tali stood expectantly as he said, "EDI, are you ready?"

The AI's artificial voice came through his helmet with little preamble and said, "Affirmative, Shepard."

His omni-tool activated and he turned his palm up as a large tech mine was fabricated micrometers above his hand. There was no weight and then suddenly there was, and he closed his fingers around it, turning to Tali and nodding. She turned to the other quarians to disperse orders while he stepped up to the door and his helmet's mask unfolded over his face.

Shepard hadn't thought about it before on the station, adrenaline clouding his senses, but the firepower wielded by a heavy mech was frankly terrifying. It was almost like coming to face a tank with the cannon swapped for a missile launcher. With their numbers the fight against the mech should be fine he told himself, but without heavy weapons it would be a dangerous fight. A voice came over his radio and Tali said, "Switching over to radio. We're ready, Shepard."

He drew his sub machine gun and activated the yellow, holographic control for the door. The glowing field of light shifted to green and the door opened with a noise reminiscent of his mask opening, but deeper and louder. He didn't take time to look at the mechs as he rushed towards a gathering of large crates near the building. He could hear the quarians following him, some spreading to other cover nearby, and the mechs' useless warnings. Before he made it to cover, he checked the mechs' location and activated the tech mine with his thumb.

Shepard lobbed the tech mine over the crates and took cover as the mechs began their barrage, the tiny noise of their sub machine guns drowned out by the powerful staccato of the heavy mech's auto cannon. There was a small explosion and a bright flash as the tech mine exploded and he could see small arcs of electricity at the edges of the crates he, Tali, and some of the quarians were hiding behind. The majority of their group began opening fire from the various windows within the prefab shelters, and Shepard could hear the tiny explosions of mechs falling to pieces.

The heavy mech paused in its stream of fire to target the quarians inside of the buildings and Shepard's group all stood, their weapons peppering its barriers. The mech fired a missile at one of the buildings without bracing itself before raking its auto-cannon over the forward fire team. One of the quarians took a round to the shoulder and fell with a cry while Shepard and the others ducked behind cover. A marine reached out to help the fallen soldier and they were both tossed away by another missile.

The mech turned back to the fire teams inside of the buildings and Shepard could hear Tali curse, a word in her own language he didn't understand. He checked the condition of his thermal clip before peeking at the mech, observing its movements. The machine was rapidly switching targets and didn't take care to balance itself between each shot of its missile launcher. It was almost fighting frantically, desperately, as if Veetor had found a way to directly control the machine. In the background he could see a handful of the light mechs recovering from EDI's attack, but many more lie on the ground in twisted heaps of metal and plastic.

While the heavy mech was distracted with the rear fire teams Shepard and Tali ducked in and out of cover to destroy the light mechs with well placed shots and a few tech mines. An odd shattering sound broke through the gunfire and, over the radio, Prazza said, "Its shields are down, change ammunition settings."

The heavy mech's torso whirled to face one of the prefab units and fired both of its weapons simultaneously. The missile impacted the structure viciously, the wall blowing inwards and sending shards of metal flying towards the fire team. As the fire team's cries died out, Shepard cringed inwardly about their assumption that the buildings would hold against the mech. This time he could hear both Prazza and Tali curse over the radio.

It had only been a second since the mech destroyed the prefab unit and it was still unbalanced from the awkward attack. Shepard sprung from cover and, with a pleasant tingle running down his spine, lifted a heavy crate with his biotics before sending it crashing into the mech. The large machine stumbled back a step from the impact and he continued his assault, flinging a biotic attack that warped the metal of its armor. As the assault platform regained its balance Shepard ducked back into cover and erected a biotic barrier, expecting a deluge of death after his little show.

Instead Tali stood and threw something that lit up in a brilliant display of lights while firing arcs of electricity at their foe. The heavy mech tracked the flight path of the device while firing its auto-cannon, the large caliber shots missing the small target. As a whole they opened fire upon the distracted machine while Shepard threw more crates and biotic attacks. Pieces of its armor flew from its body as they were melted, warped, and finally hammered by the barrage. A grenade flew from the rear fire team that detonated on contact with the mech, unbalancing it and twisting one of its arms until it hung limply from its torso.

The other arm continued to fire wildly and inaccurately, steam rising from the armor casing surrounding it. Another grenade impacted the firing arm and it was mangled much as the other one was, the mech falling to one of its knees from the impact. The mech remained immobile, seemingly defeated, and Shepard couldn't tell for sure with the meters remaining to the mech. A door opened behind him and Prazza's fire team jogged past their cover towards the mech while over the radio Prazza said, "Move in, make sure it's down!"

As he stared at the mech Shepard felt uneasy. Had they damaged it enough to deactivate it? He wasn't so sure. He stood from his cover and shouted, "Get back!"

The group of quarians arrived at the mech just in time for it to stand back up and fling its arms out, spinning its torso. The marines let out a collective cry as the mech tossed them around the battlefield with bone-crushing blows. The remaining rear fire team had resumed their barrage and the mech charged their location, it's torso still spinning rapidly. Shepard and Tali resumed their attack as well, attempting to halt the damaged machine. He even attempted to grab the thing with his biotics, but the spinning motion made each attempt a wasted effort as the biotic field slipped off of it. With a blow that made the ground tremble under his feet the heavy mech collided with the prefab structure, one of its limbs lodged in the wall.

The quarians inside were merely shaken and one of them near the window shoved his rifle into the optics of the mech before spending his thermal clip into the mech's head. Shepard felt a thrill of fear run through him as he the mech's head exploded and the body slumped against the structure. He could remember the smaller mechs self-destructing if their heads were destroyed. Only a second had gone by and, before Shepard could call out a warning, the mech overloaded its miniature fusion reactor. The entire wall of the prefab unit was blown inwards and Shepard stumbled from the force of the blast.

There were no cries from the fire team and nearby Shepard could hear a few wounded quarians groaning from their injuries. He was a little shocked at how effective a single weapon like that could be in the hands of a single person. How many of the quarians were dead now? Shepard was reminded of his own team when Tali said, "Keelah..."

He looked off to this right, two other members of the forward team were still alive and unharmed, standing behind their cover. A few isolated moans still continued and EDI said, "Shepard, I can still detect the signal being broadcast. If there are more mechs within the colony, they are likely headed in this direction."

Shepard snapped out of his stupor as Tali said, "You two, start gathering the wounded. Shepard and I need to go stop Veetor from sending any more mechs out."

He nodded as Tali turned to him and followed her brisk pace towards the doors the mechs had been defending. The doors weren't locked as they he had been expecting, and they opened automatically at their approach. On the wall opposite the doors, several meters away from them, a large collection of monitors displayed various portions of code and surveillance feeds. One monitor in particular showed the current status of the colony's security forces; there were still scores of mechs scattered throughout the colony if the display was believed. The overhead lights were deactivated, but by the light of the screens Shepard could see a lone quarian typing away at the console there.

He lowered his pistol as Tali did the same with her shotgun and they both walked towards the quarian. Prazza had mentioned that Veetor was unstable, his actions against his fellow quarians were evidence enough of that, but the incoherent mumbling that seemed to tumble away from him only enhanced that image. Tali came up beside him and touched his shoulder, but the quarian kept working at the code as if she wasn't there. She shook his shoulder more roughly and said, "Veetor, it's alright now, you're safe."

The mumbling ceased but Veetor continued working and said, "Veetor's not here, can't find him. Won't find him. Not while the monsters still search..."

As Shepard watched the interaction he was at a loss as to how they could snap Veetor out of this state without sedatives. He looked away from the two quarians and at the monitors, where the disturbed alien's attention was focused. Suddenly his omni-tool activated and the monitors began to shut down one after another until the whole wall was dark. Veetor sat back as the last one shut down, his hands sliding off of the console. It looked like EDI had another effective idea.

Tali shook his shoulder gently and with a small cry the younger quarian jumped out of his chair. Shepard raised an eyebrow as the young quarian went from panicked to calm when he saw Tali – he was the one responsible for all of this death and destruction? Tali helped Veetor back into the chair while the younger quarian said, "The monsters, how did you avoid them? They took everyone, no one could hide but me."

Shepard wasn't entirely sure how to proceed with all of this as he was still trying to sort it all out himself, so he kept his distance. Tali kept him talking and said, "We weren't here, we only arrived a couple of hours ago. What happened?"

Veetor seemed to notice Shepard now, and he said, "You didn't see, but he did, I did, I see everything."

He pulled up his omni-tool and for a moment Shepard was worried he might try something violent, but it passed as a handful of the monitors activated. Security footage of the aliens he saw before played in long loops, some showing the colonists frozen in place while others showed pods with human silhouettes being taken away by the large armored insectoids. Then, on a few monitors in the corner, Shepard could see portions of his skirmish with them from various angles. One in particular, where he could see himself destroying the husks in close quarters combat seemed to catch Veetor's attention.

The young quarian pointed to it and said, "Earlier, when I saw this I thought I saw another monster and I panicked, activating the mechs." The footage froze on the image of his figure wreathed in biotic energy, his whole body devoted to the final blow against the husk. "Now I see a glorious falcon piercing its prey with his talons."

Shepard brought a hand up to the back of his neck to quell the uncomfortable heat that rose there. Being called glorious was a little awkward, not to mention comparing a simple – if overpowered, punch to a falcon was a little ridiculous. It sounded like something a character would announce in a cheesy vid. Tali stared at the photo for a while longer, perhaps appreciating something about Veetor's choice of words, before she said, "We should get out of here before that other ship arrives, this whole mission has been a disaster. I'd like to get back to the Migrant Fleet as soon as possible."

Veetor echoed this statement and walked with Tali to the exit while Shepard followed them distractedly. He was unsure of where he would go – what he would do, he honestly had no idea where to start. Maybe he could just tag along with Tali and the others until he figured it out. If the Alliance believed George Whitson's message, or if it even got out of the colony, then they would have been here already. He could work on contacting them after he got out of this colony.

As they stepped back out into the colony Shepard noticed that the sky was slowly darkening; night was creeping over the edges of the horizon to embrace the colony. Ahead he could see the two remaining members of his team crouched over a prone quarian while another stood nearby, favoring one leg. During their approach the two healthy marines finished their work on the prone soldier and began to lift him off of the ground and over a foot. Shepard was confused for only moment before the two lifted a makeshift stretcher carrying the wounded quarian.

Shepard offered his arm to the limping marine, who gratefully accepted, and they all make their way back to the ship.

-=ME:E=-

While Shepard and his friend were busy getting Veetor's attention, EDI was busy combing the data retrieved by the deranged alien. Some she gathered into the marine's omni tool for storage, others she did a thorough job erasing from the computer databanks. This only took a handful of seconds and then EDI was left with nothing but active surveillance systems and the remaining mechs in the colony, all awaiting orders. In the interests of safety she changed their IFF protocols to acknowledge Shepard and the aliens as friendly, it wouldn't do to have them getting attacked on their way to the ship.

There were only precious seconds left before Shepard carried her out of range in which she constructed a recursive program that constantly sent her surveillance updates until she bounced a negative value back in the signal. Then, only a further second passed and she was out of her limited wireless range, relying on the periodic status updates broadcast in code that was encrypted with a handful of simple protocols. Well, at least EDI thought them to be simple.

Only a few minutes had passed in which she watched through Shepard's helmet camera when a transmission from the alien vessel was received on their radios. EDI could hear one of the aliens talking, a male in distress based upon her voice recognition programs, and he said, "Tali'Zorah! We've managed to identify the approaching vessel as a Cerberus frigate! There are only minutes until they arrive!"

Shepard's helmet turned towards his friend and she also looked to him before nodding a second following the odd change in perspective when the marine nodded his own head. Tali said, "Let's get back to the ship, quickly!"

The two carrying the stretcher ahead of them began to move as quickly as they could with the wounded soldier between them. There were several twists and turns of her perspective as Shepard knelt next to the limping alien he was assisting and instead lifted them into his arms. EDI had divided her attention between their journey and her wild processes about Cerberus and their arrival here. They must have tracked the stolen shuttle!

The overall pace of their retreat to the alien ship was faster now, but EDI was concerned about how Cerberus would act to retrieve them – they cared little for non-humans. Hopefully they would be able to make it out before they could land a shuttle or open fire with their weapons. She couldn't predict how they would act upon the presence of these aliens.

-=ME:E=-

Inside of the rapidly descending Kodiak drop-shuttle Jacob watched Miranda evenly, ready to follow any orders she might give, but worried about how she might act to regain the Commander. Beside him sat a small group of Cerberus marines, half a dozen in number and all wearing hardsuits with various weapons attached. He hoped they could just convince Shepard to leave with them so they wouldn't be forced to bring him, and the quarians their scans detected, down.

According to the last status update they received Shepard and the remaining quarians were on their way back to the quarian vessel at a rapid pace. They must have detected the Thermopylae and identified it as a Cerberus vessel. Considering their history with the Migrant Fleet it was understandable that the quarians wanted to get out as soon as possible. Over the intercom their pilot said, "Operative Lawson, we're almost at the drop point and the Thermopylae is on the line."

Miranda shifted her posture slightly and said, "Put them through."

ED's flat, cool voice said, "Operative Lawson, we are now within firing range of the quarian vessel, your orders?"

Jacob shifted in his seat as well as he said, "ED, would it be possible to disable their ship?"

"Negative."

Miranda gave him a slightly vexed look before she said, "ED, before we land I want that ship destroyed."

"Acknowledged, Operative Lawson."

The line went dead and Jacob instantly sat forward, saying, "Miranda, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

She continued to give him that annoyed look and her voice was cold as she said, "I'm insuring we acquire the Commander, that ship is his best option of escape at this moment. Also, those quarians might have information about the missing colonists, we can't let them get away."

Jacob had to concede the point, and he still felt she was going about this the wrong way, but he wouldn't convince her. She had already made up her mind, that vessel was going to be destroyed and any chance of peaceful negotiations along with it.

-=ME:E=-


	6. Chapter 6

-=ME:=-

Just when the day seemed to be winding down to a close Cerberus had to show its ugly head and bring the adrenaline back. Shepard ran as quickly as he could with the remaining members of the quarian team back to their ship, but considering the time frame they had Shepard was afraid they would be too late. They turned the corner at the end of a street and as the quarian corvette came into view he could hear the loud, almost hissing, sound of another vessel approaching. Sure enough, as they entered the square, a shuttle of the same design he stole earlier flew overhead, the Cerberus logo painted on its side.

One of the side doors on the shuttle slid open and a fire team of Cerberus marines was revealed. Shepard dropped the quarian he was carrying back on to his own feet as he raised a barrier to protect them with one hand. Several assault rifles began spewing death at them and ahead Veetor fell to the ground with a cry. All of the shots were deflected by his barrier, but it seemed the unstable quarian was ill-prepared for a firefight. The two marines with the stretcher sprinted towards the ship and made it inside of the corvettes kinetic barriers. Tali had stopped to drag Veetor to his feet and Shepard all but dragged his own infirm quarian.

Suddenly, a shot rang out loudly as the quarian next to him jerked and fell limp – they had snipers! He strengthened the barrier he was projecting as he dropped the dead quarian, the pleasant tingle becoming a headache that twinged painfully with each shot. Several more shots hammered his barrier as he approached Tali and Veetor, who was stubbornly refusing to stand. The shuttle was nearing the ground now and several of the soldiers hopped out of the descending craft. Suddenly a great noise, almost like an explosion tore through the sky and Shepard could see a disruptor torpedo streak towards the quarian vessel.

As he reached Tali and Veetor he pushed them to the ground and ducked himself just in time for the torpedo to explode on the corvette's kinetic barriers. There was a great rush of wind and a flash of light as its kinetic barriers overloaded and over the radio Shepard could hear a couple of cries from the quarians still outside the ship. He could see two more impacts rock the ship, but not any torpedoes, and two sonic booms rent the air, indicating mass accelerator cannons. The corvette lay quietly for a moment before detonating in a horrific gout of fire and debris.

As the corvette exploded Shepard extended his barrier over them like a dome until he heard no more impacts in the snow around them. Veetor sat quietly in shock while Tali cursed up a storm in her language and dragged the unresponsive quarian to his feet. Across the wreckage of the burning vessel Shepard could see a woman in a white uniform step out of the now-landed shuttle. Memories of his awakening blurred through his mind as he watched her bark out orders to the Cerberus soldiers. Operative Lawson? He watched her, the intense heat of the flames distorting the air between them until she saw him.

Suddenly more weapons fire found its way to his barrier, but it seemed only a token effort to distract him while their forces moved forwards. Thinking fast he grabbed Tali's arm and dragged her and Veetor in the opposite direction of the communications center. There was another ship they could use to escape.

-=ME:E=-

EDI had been expecting a vicious attack from Cerberus, just as Shepard probably had, but it was not expected that they would risk his safety with an orbital bombardment in such close proximity. She swam through the bits and pieces of security footage she was receiving from the communications facility and one set of images in particular caught her attention. It appeared to be a parking facility for ground, air, and space transportation vehicles. She would have to wait for the next burst of data before she could pinpoint its location. Hopefully, it would be within a usable distance of their current path.

An agonizing second passed before another burst of data arrived and she discarded all but a handful of marked pieces from the previous burst. She located the structure and it was indeed along the path she projected Shepard would follow during their escape. A few other interesting images caught her attention from the security feeds. The Cerberus operatives in command were Lawson and Taylor, the operatives that were in charge of the station from before.

From what little she learned of the two, they were both skilled individuals in combat and both of them biotics. Hopefully Shepard would be able to avoid a confrontation and they could escape without any further hindrance, she was afraid that he would be unable to handle such numbers and firepower on his own.

-=ME:E=-

Tali allowed herself to be pulled by Shepard out of the square with Veetor in tow, but as they began to move through the streets of the colony she was starting to feel uncomfortable with it. She continued to move with him but said, "Shepard, we can run on our own."

Shepard paused a moment and she took it to regain some of her breath while Veetor hunched over, his hands on his knees as he breathed deeply. The marine drew one of his pistols, she couldn't really tell which, and checked the thermal clip as he said, "Right, sorry. I know of another ship we can use to get off the planet, but it's on the other side of the colony from where Veetor was hiding."

EDI's cool voice came over all of their radios, saying, "Shepard, I have located a parking facility with various craft that we could make use of to escape. It is eleven blocks west and three north."

Veetor gave a start next to Tali and whispered, "Who was that...?"

EDI's voice seemed to take on a soothing demeanor as she said, "You have nothing to fear, I am an AI working with Commander Shepard."

The disturbed quarian was still breathing heavily as he mumbled, "An AI? Keelah..."

Shepard kept the pistol out and said nothing, probably thinking, but Tali was curious so she said, "EDI, how were you able to find it? I thought your wireless capability was limited."

In a surprisingly well synthesized tone that sounded smug, at least Tali thought so, EDI said, "While you were occupied dealing with Veetor I was able to access the colony's surveillance systems and embed a recursive program that would send me updates as we moved through the colony. It took several bursts of data to construct a reliable map of the colony layout and to pinpoint the location of the parking facility."

Tali was already uneasy about Shepard's choice with EDI, but this simple display of her capabilities was disturbing to her. The average geth platform couldn't perform functions as powerful as this, even when working in sync with several other geth platforms. She had seen EDI's blue box before, when Shepard had shown her, and it was unlike any design she had seen on the extranet. It was far more compact, with dozens more input ports, than anything she had seen designed to contain an AI.

To spend whatever resources it took to bring a man back from the dead and to develop this terrifying masterpiece made Tali wonder what Cerberus was planning. Something about Shepard had been off since she met him, too – it seemed like he was distracted and more impulsive than before. Not to mention that he was doing things with his biotics that she had never seen him do before and with a strength he didn't possess before either. He was still the John Shepard she knew before, but something was wrong – off. Perhaps coming back from the dead had affected him in ways she couldn't fathom yet. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like.

Shepard seemed to have come up with a plan and, breaking Tali from her thoughts, he said, "We're going to make our way to the garage, hopefully there will be a shuttle or something we can use there. EDI, I want you to start working on something that will get us past their ship."

He looked at Veetor and her now before continuing, "Veetor, are you going to be alright?"

The younger quarian had regained his breath, but he still seemed a little shaken as he said, "I-I think so."

Tali knew that in preparation for pilgrimage most quarians went through a phase of physical conditioning and some even got combat training like she did. She drew her pistol and flipped it so the handle was facing Veetor, saying, "Do you know how to shoot a gun?"

He took the gun with a shaking hand, but said, "I was taught how back in the fleet before my p-pilgrimage. So, y-yes."

Shepard watched them curiously until Tali drew her shotgun and he said, "Good, let's get going. I think I can hear those Cerberus goons getting close."

Sure enough, Tali could hear voices approaching their position, the overall tone cautious. Perhaps they were expecting an ambush? As Shepard started jogging an indicator appeared on the HUD of her mask and EDI said, "I have activated a waypoint on your respective HUDs indicating the approximate location of the facility."

Shepard paused at an intersection to peer around the corner and said, "Thanks EDI."

Tali felt uncomfortable at how used Shepard seemed at EDI's constant use of the electronics to communicate and function in the group. It was necessary, she had to admit, but as someone who relied on her technology to survive it was unsettling. EDI's voice took on a new tone, one that mimicked something Shepard would use a lot back on the Normandy. She sounded so unconcerned when she said, "Don't mention it."

It was going to take a long time for her to get used to working with an AI.

-=ME:E=-

The chase was relatively boring when Shepard thought about it, only a few times had they heard the Cerberus forces following them and they had yet to see them since fleeing from them in the square. He could see a tall structure that was probably the garage ahead and pushed on a little more speed, the footfalls of Tali and Veetor keeping up with his pace. The structure was around five stories tall and looked as though it had been cut out of the very stone the colony was situated in. As he approached the main door to the structure slid open in a similar way to the prefab units and the three of them quickly made their way inside. The lights within the reception area were switched off, but at the far end the room he could see the red optics of a half-dozen mechs.

Veetor gave a start and small whimper at the mechs while they all raised their weapons, but EDI's cool voice said, "There is no need to worry about the mechs, Shepard. I rearranged their IFF protocols to acknowledge us as friendly back when I had access."

Shepard let out a sigh of relief as he said, "Is there anything you don't think of EDI?"

"I wouldn't know if I didn't think of it."

He smiled grimly at this and turned to Tali, saying, "Is there anything we can do about this door?"

Tali stepped forwards, tapping at her omni-tool for a few moments before she said, "I might be able to use my combat drone to weld it shut, but it wouldn't hold long if they tried to open it."

Veetor was leaning against the wall, out of breath, and Shepard let him rest as he walked over to a console and said, "EDI, can you show me anything surveillance-wise in here?"

His omni-tool lit up and the monitor in front of him flashed through several security feeds until coming to rest on one monitoring a shuttle. It was a slightly older design than the one Cerberus was using, but it would get the job done. The monitor flipped through a few more images before a few of the building layout appeared and EDI said, "The shuttle I found is situated on the fourth floor and I have secured our access to the landing bay."

Shepard nodded after checking the layout – there was no elevator, just two sets of stairs, and said, "Good work, EDI."

Behind him Shepard could hear the hissing and popping of the door being welded shut and he thought back to his little plan. If Cerberus was going to chase anyone it would be him, not Tali and Veetor. He figured he could send the two of them off in the shuttle while he distracted their forces on the ground here, and whatever EDI cooked up would get them past the ship in orbit. Getting away after those two had escaped would be the tricky part, however.

The sounds behind him stopped and he could hear Tali and Veetor walking up to him as Tali said, "I've finished the door, did you find anything?"

The image on the monitor changed back to that of the shuttle and Shepard said, "Yeah, EDI found a shuttle on the fourth floor. We'll have to take the stairs -"

Suddenly, the door was rocked by a small explosion that dented it inwards, the mechs nearby them readied their weapons at the disturbance, and Veetor jumped at the noise. Another explosion shook the door and several of the smaller pieces fell to the ground as the dent became deeper. Shepard stepped away from the console and towards the stairs, saying, "Time to go."

As they entered the stair well and began their jog up the stairs a third explosion sounded and the clattering of the door blowing to pieces rang through the building. The sounds of combat had begun in the reception area, the high-pitched rattle of the mech's sub machine guns fighting against the deeper tones of the soldier's assault rifles. It didn't take long for the sounds of combat to cease and the final detonation of a self-destructing mech echoed as they passed the second floor. Shortly after the door below opened and the thundering of booted feet echoed up the stairs after them as a voice shouted, "Up the stairs! Move!"

As they ran up the stairs, Shepard hoped they were keeping a decent lead over their pursuit, he wasn't looking forward to having a fire-fight in the stair well. They passed the third floor just as the doors to the second floor opened and a voice barked out, "Clear! Keep moving!"

As he arrived at the door to the fourth floor, shots ricocheted off the railing nearby and embedded themselves into the wall past that. He ushered Tali and Veetor through as a handful of men in hardsuits came around the landing below him. They didn't fire, but charged up the stairs at him, and he pushed them back down the stairs with biotics before hopping through the door. As it closed behind him he warped the metal of the door; his headache from before had subsided some, but it still dully throbbed.

Tali and Veetor were already making their way to the shuttle, past several skycars and a few hoverbikes, and he sprinted over to them. As he did so, he said, "EDI, I want you to transfer whatever you have prepared for the Cerberus ship over to Tali, we're not going with them."

If EDI was at all unsure, her cool voice didn't sound it as she said, "Acknowledged, Shepard."

As he approached the shuttle he could see Veetor already inside, working at one of the consoles in the cockpit while Tali stood waiting for him. Shepard knew convincing her to leave without him was going to suck, but he said, "I'm not going with you."

Immediately Tali hopped down from the shuttle, saying, "Yes you are! We _can't_ just leave you here!"

He raised a hand and she was quiet, but he could see she was agitated by the way she couldn't settle into a comfortable posture. He couldn't keep too still either, and a detonation against the door he warped shut wasn't helping, but he said, "They don't want you, they want me. I know we could get away, but chances are they'll keep going after me and that would mean trouble for you. I can't let that happen and you _can_ go without me."

Tali's agitation seemed to increase as he talked and she had begun to pace a few feet until he finished. Another explosion shook the door behind them and she jammed a finger into his chest, saying, "Fine. Fine. But you better not die again, or I'll never forgive you."

Shepard laughed softly as the clambered back into the shuttle, it's engines beginning to whine loudly in preparation. Before she closed the door, Tali pulled up her omni-tool and said, "This is my new extranet address, contact me as soon as you're safe."

Shepard nodded as his omni-tool lit up and he said, "I will. EDI should have sent you something to get you past their ship, good luck."

"You too."

The bay doors opened as the shuttle activated its element zero core and lifted from the ground and a final explosion rent the stairwell door from its frame. As the Cerberus soldiers spilled through the door, Operative Lawson and another he wasn't familiar with close behind, the shuttle flew from the bay with a burst of its engines. The roar of the shuttle's rockets continued for a few moments as the soldiers all lined up and trained their weapons on him. He still had his heavy pistol drawn, but he kept it low as Lawson and her associate stopped several meters from him.

The other man looked to be powerfully built, with dark skin, closely-cropped hair, and a skin-tight suit similar to Lawson's. For a moment nobody said or did anything but examine one another until his mask folded open and he said, "I don't want any girl scout cookies, thanks."

Lawson frowned at him while her associate quirked the side of his mouth slightly before composing himself. Aside from the half-dozen soldiers in the room they all had relaxed postures, but she shifted her weight to one leg and said, "Commander Shepard, I'm Miranda Lawson."

She gestured at the man next to her and continued, "This is Jacob Taylor, we work for -"

He held up a hand, saying, "Cerberus, I know. However, I don't know why you'd bring a man back from the dead. Knowing your reputation, I'm not sure I want to know."

Jacob put away his shotgun, Miranda gave him an annoyed look, and said, "Commander, you've obviously seen the colony. This isn't the first time this has happened either. We brought you back because we believe this has something to do with the Reapers."

Shepard considered the man in front of him, his posture was erect and tall and while his speech was casual it did carry a very disciplined nature to it. That, combined with his appearance, made him think of the Alliance and the kind of people it attracts. Something about this Jacob made Shepard want to trust him, but the Cerberus logo stitched into his uniform pushed that instinct aside. He balanced his stance and said, "What? You think I'd just forget all of Cerberus's bad deeds and be friends? Even if your goal is noble, I'm not sure I could accept your questionable methods. That's not even taking into account the lives you've taken today."

Jacob seemed to be disappointed as he stepped back, but not with himself or Shepard. Miranda took over, saying, "Commander, when you take into account the amount of resources Cerberus has put into this you have to admit you owe -"

Shepard cut her off, sharply saying, "I don't owe you anything. I didn't ask to be brought back, and so far I haven't exactly enjoyed my time alive again. So thank you, but no thank you, I'm not going to work with Cerberus."

Miranda's expression grew hard while Jacob appeared resigned and she said, "Have it your way then. There's no way out of this room, save through us. Will you come peacefully?"

He didn't have to guess what the "or" in this situation was, but he didn't really have a choice – he was definitely not going to come peacefully. The others seemed to sense this as the soldiers spread out and the two operatives were wreathed in biotic energy. A stiff breeze blew in from the open bay doors behind him and he exploded into action, firing off a few quick shots of his pistol at the soldiers to his left as he launched a biotic push to his right. A hoverbike flew at him from the side and he deflected it at two soldiers taking cover behind a car with his own biotics. He raised a barrier to save the kinetic barriers of his suit just in time to fight his way through a powerful biotic warp.

It seemed Jacob had the biotic muscle while Miranda had the skill as the large man launched heavy objects from around the room at him with fluid motions of his body. Miranda on the other hand used jerky hand movements to create complex warping patterns that challenged the strength of his barriers and wielded a machine pistol with deadly accuracy. The assault rifle fire, there solely to weaken his barrier it seemed, was merely annoying and he showed his disdain for it by crushing a soldier against a wall with a small shove of a skycar.

Another hoverbike attempted to strike him, and instead of deflecting this one away he grabbed it and hurled it viciously towards the two he attempted to hit before. This time the sheer kinetic energy of the hoverbike was enough to plow through the nose of the skycar and bludgeon one of the soldiers. As soon as the soldier was free from cover Shepard riddled him with bullets from his pistol. Despite these victories Shepard could feel himself tiring and he noticed something that was draining his strength. Because he was standing still, ironically, it was sapping his power; he was an easy target for them to pummel into exhaustion.

It was too late to try maneuvering about the battlefield though, they already had the entire place covered. Instead, Shepard decided it was time to make his escape and lifted a nearby skycar with his biotics before tossing it at Jacob and Miranda. As they frantically used their biotics to stop the speeding projectile he turned and sprinted for the open bay doors. Behind him he could hear Miranda shouting, "You four, get one of these cars working and follow! Jacob, with me!"

Ignoring his possible pursuit he leaped from the building's fourth story and, before free fall could start rolling, he took hold of himself with biotics to slow his descent. It was difficult to maintain the mass effect field on himself mentally exhausted as he was, but he kept it up long enough so he wouldn't be injured by the fall. As he landed in the deep snow, he looked up to see Jacob and Miranda imitating him, but not slowly descending. The two Cerberus operatives were plummeting in free fall towards him and he dove out of the way as they landed with impacts that shook the ground. Why hadn't he thought of that? He continued to flee, sprinting out of the alley he was in and down the street; he recognized the location from earlier that morning, and he kept up his fast pace.

He could hear his two pursuers keeping pace with him and, in the distance the roar of a skycar's engines. If his memory served him correctly, which lately it hadn't been, then the hoverbike he used earlier should be nearby. He kept moving towards the edge of the colony, keeping his eyes open for the black hoverbike. As he reached the edge of the colony he was rewarded when he spotted the vehicle, a decent coating of snow covering it. The machine instantly activated as he mounted it, EDI was getting pretty good at predicting his requests, and his mask unfolded over his face.

As he gunned the engine and tore out of the colony he could hear the odd noise of a biotic warp impacting the wall behind him followed by a frustrated shout. There was only a brief pause in the roar of the skycar before it resumed and with a glance in one of the side mirrors Shepard could see the vehicle behind him. It's finish was black and in deep contrast to that he could see Jacob and Miranda in their white suits clinging to the sides of the vehicle. He wasn't sure but it also looked like the doors had been ripped off. And people thought he was crazy.

-=ME:E=-

Jacob knew Miranda pretty well, and while she could have those moments where her motivations would elude him, this wasn't one of them. To her, maintaining the image of perfection was one of the most important things to her. Not only had the Lazarus Project been a partial failure, but Shepard could possibly escape now. There was another thing he knew about Miranda, she wasn't perfect.

Physically she was, no question there, but mentally she wasn't. It was definitely one of those times where the "mental" in "mentally" came out, Jacob thought as he clung to the side of the skycar during their pursuit of Shepard. It was pretty cold, and the windchill didn't help, but Jacob wouldn't let it bother him. The whole problem with this was that she was letting it get to her personally that Shepard broke free and denied Cerberus. It was a mar on her record, but he will admit that the Commander was a bit violent about it.

Then there was the Commander, a man who was practically an unknown to him, yet he felt he understood him well enough. He was a man who strives to do the right thing, and in his eyes Cerberus couldn't do the right thing. Another thing Jacob understood was the man's great skill, but you didn't need to know him to know that. One thing he didn't understand was his power; during his first life Shepard was only slightly above average when it came to biotics. Now he was holding out against entire squads of deadly soldiers and two powerful biotics. What exactly had Miranda and the other operatives done when they brought him back?

Whatever was different about him, it didn't matter, and whatever the outcome of this mission, it didn't matter – The Illusive Man wasn't going to be happy. Not that Jacob had ever seen the man happy.

In the distance Jacob could see a small junkyard come into view along with a handful of prefab structures and a Kowloon class freighter. He glanced down at the black figure that was Shepard and he was surprised at the distance he put between them. It wouldn't be enough to keep them off of him for long though. He wouldn't be able to get the freighter off of the ground in time on his own.

-=ME:E=-

As he neared his destination, Shepard realized a snag in his plan; he wouldn't be able to get the freighter off of the ground fast enough to elude Miranda and Jacob. Grasping for a possible solution he said, "EDI, is there anything in my omni-tool that could deal with their car?"

EDI's cool voice, almost apologetically, said, "My apologies, Shepard, but there is not. I can however, modify a preexisting program to attain this. One moment."

He eased off of the engine a bit and watched in the side mirror as the skycar drew nearer, the two figures clinging to its sides becoming defined. If he could knock them out of the sky before they got there then he could definitely get the ship off of the ground before they could catch up to him.

-=ME:E=-

Jacob continued to watch the black figure that was Shepard and was surprised as it grew larger, not smaller. He was also suspicious – what was the Commander up to? He looked over at Miranda and her expression mirrored his thoughts. They were rapidly gaining ground and Jacob could now pick Shepard's charcoal armor out from the black of the hoverbike. There was a blur of motion ahead and Jacob braced himself for a biotic attack, but was instead surprised when a tech mine adhered to the windshield.

Miranda's head snapped to the glowing, yellow device and her eyes widened as it flashed red before she looked to him. Inside he could hear one of the soldiers curse.

A soldier in the front began shouting, "Fuuuu-"

With a tiny explosion it detonated and arcs of electricity spread along the skycar; the roar of the engines cut out and Jacob could feel them begin to fall. The ground was rapidly approaching and he could hear Miranda shout, "Jacob, jump!"

He looked over to see her leap from the falling skycar and the glow of biotics surround her before he quickly understood her idea and emulated it. He made sure to only arrest his downward momentum so he could glide along, maintaining some of the speed from their downed vehicle. By the time he reached the ground, the freighter and hoverbike were now only meters away. He dropped himself to the ground roughly while Miranda slid to the ground gracefully nearby.

-=ME:E=-

As Shepard stood in the cargo bay, he smirked at the image of the skycar falling in his mind. He wished he could have seen the looks on their faces when the tech mine went off. EDI had told him that she could get the freighter moving from here, so he hadn't felt motivated to go any farther. From what he'd seen of EDI's speed he probably wouldn't be waiting too long, so he moved to the bay doors. As he raised his hand to activate the door control he was violently flung away from it and out of the cargo bay.

He tumbled through the snow for a moment and Jacob said, "That was a pretty smooth move, Commander."

He shook the snow out of his helmet as he stood and said, "Not smooth enough, apparently."

He raised a barrier just in time to avoid being pushed onto his ass and Miranda said, "You're not getting away this time, Commander."

He looked up from the ground as he finally righted himself and said, "Oh, you're here too. Fun."

The two of them stood there sans weapons, but their stances were even and balanced – they were ready to duke it out with biotics it seemed. At least his headache had subsided some. As before they all stood there, waiting for another to move first until a stiff breeze blew and Shepard made the first move. Off to his right there was a pile of junk and he lifted an assortment of vehicle parts and launched them at the pair who merely dodged to the sides.

Jacob re-purposed some of the junk and flung it back at Shepard while Miranda compressed the snow around her into balls of ice and launched them at him like bullets. Shepard stepped to the side, allowing the ice to pass him, but as it did he slingshot it around him and back at her with a moderately complex biotic pull while Jacob's debris flew past him. This time, when Miranda dodged aside, he borrowed a trick from her and compressed the snow she was about to step onto into a layer of flat, slick ice. She slipped on the slick surface and fell to one knee, but failed to fall completely over, even in heels! He couldn't help but find the feat impressive.

Suddenly Shepard found himself knocked off of his feet again as a ball of ice the size of his head impacted his chest. It struck with enough force that it shattered on impact and he could feel his muscles bruise under his armor. Jacob had done the same as Shepard, but he had the opportunity to properly use it. A hail storm of ice was sent at the Commander from the pair, and he covered himself in a barrier dome again. The barrage was so intense that it took all of his concentration to maintain it as the ice built up around him like an igloo.

-=ME:E=-

As he lost sight of Shepard completely Jacob paused in his assault and Miranda followed – was that enough? In terms of biotics that was all he had, and if Shepard was still combat-viable then he was done for. With baited breath they waited for any sign of activity from the small pile of ice, but for several moments nothing happened. Just as he was about to breathe out a sigh of relief the dome exploded in a shower of ice. Their barriers absorbed the initial impacts, but they were not ready for the veritable tidal wave of snow and ice that quickly overtook him and Miranda.

As he dug his way out of the large pile of freezing ice he found himself in, he could hear Miranda doing the same nearby. With difficulty he hoisted himself out of the snow, but it was too late – he could hear the bay doors closing and the whine of the freighter's engines. Next to him he could hear Miranda's labored breathing and something resembling a growl coming from her throat. He looked over at her and, while he had to admit she always looked beautiful, he especially liked it when she wasn't at her best – when she didn't seem worried about being perfect.

Maybe that's why it never worked out between the two of them, he didn't care about perfection while she did. It still made his gut ache and his heart twinge to think about it, though. He shook his head – it never did well to dwell on that particular thought. Instead he watched the Kowloon class freighter rocket into the cloudy night sky and thought about how Shepard had eluded them once again. Nearby, Miranda growled again.

-=ME:E=-

As Shepard trudged through the cargo bay, a headache splitting his skull and aches all over his body, he lifted the bag containing EDI off of a nearby crate. Slinging it over his shoulders, he made his way towards the cockpit of the Progress Runner and he said, "EDI, any sign of their ship?"

Instead of sounding off through his helmet EDI's voice echoed through the ship's PA system. She said, "I have been unable to locate them, Shepard, there is no way of knowing if they will pursue."

He didn't pause in his walk to think about it, but he wasn't about to stick around and throw away this chance. As he entered the cockpit he set the bag down on one of the chairs and said, "Are there any pre-calculated destinations in the nav computer? I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."

He settled himself into the other chair as EDI said, "Affirmative, Shepard. According to the logs various destinations have been saved within the computer and most have been visited several times. There is an anomalous collection of logs that stands out from the rest as being programmed multiple times yet never visited."

He leaned back in his seat and groaned quietly as the various bruises on his body ached in protest. He sat there for a moment and thought about all of the options he had, but he didn't want to stick around here any longer. Cerberus might decide to take action against the freighter while he thought about it anyways. He closed his eyes and said, "Tell me about that one."

EDI's cool, quiet voice was almost like a lullaby to him right now and he could feel himself beginning to drift off as she said, "The flight itinerary would take us through one mass relay and two FTL jumps, coming to an end at the space station Omega."

With regret and shame he remembered the Whitsons, but he also remembered why Omega might be in their navigational computer. A couple minor references in conversation to the son and brother who had run off on his own. He'd never even heard of Omega, from what he could remember of his past life, but it seemed as good a place as any to go for now. Even if he wasn't looking forward to giving out bad news. Then he could contact the Alliance and begin the long debriefing process that would be filled with various tests and interrogations.

The chair he was situated in could recline as he found with a start and, as he adjusted his seating, he said, "Let's go to Omega then, EDI."

With those words he could feel the exhaustion he fought against earlier overtaking him, and he relaxed into the chair. As though she were far away he could hear EDI say, "Acknowledged Shepard, laying in our course."

He could hear EDI continue, but he was too far gone to understand it as darkness took him.

-=ME:E=-

EDI supposed she could call herself irritated when Shepard fell asleep as she was talking – again. Whether it was truly irritation she was feeling or not, she couldn't be sure. She had been programmed with complex algorithms that emulated emotions that would only grow and change as she learned, that much she had been told. Regardless of those thoughts she still had a problem that the Commander was unaware of. Her current battery had less than twenty-four hours worth of power left and recharging them was not going to be simple.

A cursory extranet search using the Progress Runner's communications array and an FTL comm-buoy showed that there were no commercial models of her current power supply or a charger for such things. EDI was running another, deeper, search in the background and hoped that this would provide her with some options. She was unsure of Shepard's technical skill, so reproducing the proper device would possibly be out of the question. Perhaps she could last in a power save mode until they arrived at Omega.

A collection of articles found during her extranet search did warrant a more thorough read and she began a new search in the background about both kinds of aliens they had seen today. With no names or details other than what she could capture through Shepard's helmet camera, the search was extremely vague. Nonetheless EDI kept the search going, perhaps she could find some answers about the abducted colonists, as well as find something to sate her curiosity .

-=ME:E=-

Dimly lit tunnels of dark stone with rough metal scaffolding passed by Shepard's vision and he could feel his legs working towards a destination. At the end of the platform he could see an elevator waiting patiently for them to arrive. That's right, his team was with him. Behind him he could hear some light conversation, too quiet for him to pick up on though. Beyond the elevator a field of blue energy was stretched over a section of the far wall. It almost looked like water.

Shepard stopped to examine the blue field while he could hear several pairs of armored feet walking into the elevator behind him. He followed them into the elevator, his team's features seemed fuzzy at best and he turned to face out of the door shortly anyways. The elevator only lowered for a few seconds before coming to a halt, broken. A voice carried up from below that carried a definite tremor of fear within it. It sounded like a woman, and she said, "Hello? Is anyone out there?"

There was a small section of scaffolding blow them that hadn't collapsed, and Shepard hopped down before heading towards a ramp that led to the lower level. He could hear a few thuds and one loud crash as his team followed, but the structure only groaned from the stress rather than shift or collapse. As he made his way down the ramp another field of blue, water-like energy came into view. He stood in front of the barrier and observed the Asari floating on the other side of it; she didn't look relieved or joyous at her rescue.

Something seemed off to Shepard and that feeling was only magnified as she said, "It's been a while, Shepard."

He turned away from her, shame burning in his gut, and stared instead at the metal grating beneath his feet as he said, "Yeah."

Suddenly a quiet hum filled the air and the grating beneath his feet became smooth metal plating while the blue glow from the barrier disappeared. He looked back up at her and found himself in the medical storage area. Her painted eyebrows were pinched together and a small frown marred her smooth face while her entire posture seemed guarded. She said, "I'm surprised; usually you're so well-spoken. After what you've done all you have to say is 'yeah'?"

The burning inside twisted at her words and Shepard knew that she was right, but at the same time there was nothing he could say. He had no excuse. He didn't know why he had done it, all he knew was that he regretted it. Before looking away from her face, set in that damning frown, he said, "I'm sorry, Liara."

The entire ship bucked and Shepard found himself at the door to the CIC, flames dancing around him. As the door opened and the air rushed out to vacuum, he could hear her say, "Just... go away."

As though he were watching himself from a distance Shepard walked out into the broken CIC, his legs only carrying him a few steps before an explosion from the dying ship threw him into space. The familiar hissing of compromised environmental seals began as he drifted through the void, but the only thing on his mind as he slowly died was the reason. Why had he done it?

-=ME:E=-

There was no start or interruption to his rest, so Shepard slowly opened his eyes to see the cockpit ceiling above him. He could still feel the twisting conflagration in his gut, but the details of his dream were fuzzy and rapidly slipping away. He glanced out of the cockpit view port and was surprised to see a space station, rusty and ancient, but a space station nonetheless. The huge structure jutted from the hollow half of an exhausted asteroid, giving the entire station the appearance of a jellyfish. He turned his head away from the view port, the motion must have alerted EDI to his waking as she said, "Shepard, we have arrived at Omega and will be docked within a few minutes. I am also in need of a long-term solution to my power requirements, though I have developed a temporary fix."

A yawn split his face for a moment before he said, "Good morning to you too, EDI."

Out the view port Shepard could see the various spires of Omega, the occasional ship zipping through space nearby. He tried to sit up but was dragged back down by a flinch as his ribs screamed in pain. He sat for a moment, feeling out the pain, and figured he must have disturbed the large wound on his torso during all of the fighting the day before. He sat up slowly with his wound in mind and said, "We might want to look up a doctor while we're here, I think I broke something."

One of the haptic interfaces on the dash lit up and EDI's cool voice said, "All public records are fragmented and most likely out of date, I do not think it likely we will be able to look one up."

He scrolled through the information displayed and came to agree with EDI's assessment, none of it seemed helpful. He shut the display down and said, "You said you had a temporary fix for your power problem?"

"Indeed. I have found a way to adapt one of my display ports in combination with the proper cable to provide a power feed that should extend the life of my current battery. However, I do not know where we might find such a cable aboard this vessel. Also, this will only last as long as the cable and respective port can endure the strain." EDI paused and re-activated the display in front of him before continuing, "I have also researched multiple long-term solutions, but they will require additional parts and technical expertise. I suggest finding a mechanic while aboard the station."

A trip to the doctor and the mechanic – it almost sounded like a normal day. That is if he was going to the doctor for something other than wounds remaining from death and the mechanic for parts to sustain an AI. He looked over the list of parts and modifications needed while he said, "Transfer all of this to my omni-tool and I'll see if I can find someone capable."

EDI sounded fairly self-satisfied as she said, "I have already taken the liberty of doing so, Shepard."

He stood from his seat and winced at the pain in his ribs; it was time to get cracking.

-=ME:E=-

After a quick search of the cockpit Shepard found the required cable and hooked EDI up to one of the available ports on the dash. Afterward, he had quickly found Omega to not be his kind of place. He could see corruption and brutality everywhere and he readily agreed with EDI when she said that "you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Apparently she was enjoying the extranet access available back aboard the ship. He had stopped by a local food stand for a quick meal, and had nearly palmed his face when he realized he had no money. Thankfully one of his old accounts was still accessible with a healthy amount of credits available.

After a few minutes of conversation with the stall's owner he had a good idea where to stop for the parts they needed and hopefully the expertise. That was if his assumption about quarians was true and they all were engineering savvy. The only lead he had on a doctor so far was a clinic within a quarantine zone, but that sounded a bit out of reach. Especially with the gang wars taking place within. Shepard set off from the stall after paying for his meal and made his way down a set of stairs, completely ignoring the handful of vorcha standing at the corner. Ahead he could see a deep recess in the wall with a counter in front of it and a flickering light that he guessed was the result of welding. Above the counter there was a holographic sign that read "Kenn's Salvage".

As he approached the counter he could see the quarian shop owner, a young male by the looks of it, working on some mechanical part Shepard couldn't make heads or tails of. He rapped his armored knuckles on the counter twice and he could hear the alien shout, "I'll be with you in a moment!"

The marine patiently stood at the counter as the mechanic finished his work and quietly pondered why a young quarian would be away from the fleet. Perhaps he was on pilgrimage? It seemed the most likely answer, as Shepard couldn't see many quarians wishing to live away from their people with the universe treating them like scum. Kenn turned away from the pile of salvage and shut off his torch, saying, "Welcome to my shop, can I interest you in some salvaged tech? Every purchase goes towards getting me off this keelah-forsaken rock."

Shepard leaned forward on the counter, saying, "Rough pilgrimage?"

Kenn seemed surprised as Shepard said this and he said, "Not many outsiders know about the pilgrimage, but yeah – all of my money was stolen within minutes of arrival. I've barely been able to scrape by selling salvage and making repairs. I don't want to bore you with my sob story though-"

Shepard raised a placating hand, saying, "Don't worry about it, I asked. I traveled with a quarian on her pilgrimage for a while, so I understand how tough it is."

Kenn seemed to relax as he put away his torch and said, "I see. Well, is there anything I can help you with?"

Shepard pushed himself off of the counter and activated his omni-tool with a deliberate, combined flick of his wrist and fingers. He nodded at Kenn as he tapped away at the device and said, "Yes, actually I have a job I'm hoping you can help me with. I have a device with very specific power requirements, you see, and I've been having trouble finding solutions. Here's a list of parts and some modifications that should do the job."

With a final tap of the haptic interface on his omni-tool Shepard sent the information to the quarian, but instead of the other omni-tool illuminating a terminal nearby did so. Kenn tapped away at the terminal for a few moments and read through the information, nodding his head frequently. The young quarian looked up from his terminal and said, "I've got the parts and the modifications sound simple enough, but the tech alone'll cost about fifteen-hundred credits."

Shepard nodded, he could spare a few thousand for this, and said, "Make it three thousand for the entire job and you've got yourself a deal. I'll give you half now to cover the parts and the rest when I stop by later to pick up the finished part."

Kenn seemed to reel in shock as Shepard said this and the surprise showed in his voice as he said, "That's very generous of you, with this I'll almost have enough to get off this station, but... I can't just accept this out of charity."

Shepard waved him off, saying, "It's not charity if I'm hiring you to do a job. Besides, you should be ready to accept any help you can get on your pilgrimage."

While Tali didn't seem to have the financial troubles Kenn was having she definitely had others during her pilgrimage. Almost getting killed twice was pretty troublesome. The mechanic nodded his agreement begrudgingly and said, "I'll get to work on this right away, I'll send you a message when it's finished."

With a few taps of his omni-tool Shepard transferred the credits and his old extranet address over to Kenn before nodding to the young quarian. He turned from the shop and walked straight into a large batarian standing behind him. Both he and the alien stumbled and the latter let out a low growl before taking a step back between a turian and another batarian. Shepard was immediately wary, but kept his posture relaxed, perhaps he would get to talk himself out of this conflict. Before he could say anything however, the batarian pointed at him and said, "Shepard, Aria wants to talk and we've been sent to escort you to Afterlife."

Shepard recalled the large and flashy nightclub he had passed earlier, but he was also wary of their familiarity with him. He stood a little straighter and said, "You know who I am?"

The batarian seemed to inflate with annoyance at the continued conversation, but said in a minimally hostile voice, "I admit we didn't have you tagged when you entered the Terminus Systems, but nothing and no one goes through Omega without Aria knowing. And she wants to talk with you."

He figured Aria must be some sort of authority figure on Omega based upon what this batarian said of her. His attitude didn't sit so well with Shepard, but he knew that bringing attention to it would only hurt the situation, so he gestured vaguely with his hand and said, "Lead on."

The alien sneered at him for only a second before stomping towards the club and Shepard followed a few steps behind. He took note of the weapons and armor worn by each member of the entourage in case it turned ugly. He walked with the thugs directly past the checkpoint at the entrance and past the crowded bar towards a flight of stairs at the rear of the club. He glanced upwards and past the humongous holographic display to see an asari staring imperiously down at him. He held her gaze until they made it to the stairs and turned away just as she did.

His escort broke off yet gestured that he continue up the stairs and past several armed guards to a large balcony. The asari from before looked out on the club and, as he approached, turned to him and said, "That's close enough."

He halted his steps just in time for another large batarian to approach him with an omni-tool activated. The alert feeling from the brief discussion earlier had never left him and he was immediately suspicious. An omni-tool could serve many purposes, some of them deadly. Was it a harmless scan or was it a weapon? Shepard felt that the danger must be growing, because the guard kept on coming, and he certainly wasn't showing any signs that he was slowing! The batarian raised the omni-tool and said, "Hold still."

All that went through the marine's mind after that statement was "Yeah, fuck that".

Shepard swiftly grabbed the glowing hand of the guard and used his shoulder as leverage to flip the large batarian to the lower area of the balcony. Before the armored body hit the floor he used his free hand to draw his sub machine gun and point it at Aria. He pushed his boot roughly onto the neck of the batarian, the glowing arm still within his grasp, and said, "This better be a simple scan or I swear I'll find a way to shove this where the sun doesn't shine."

He could hear a half-dozen weapons unfold and prime around him and Aria had turned to face him fully, interest prancing in her eyes. She let out a low laugh and descended the few steps between them while waving her guards off. Shepard lowered his own weapon and released the guard's arm, but kept his boot firmly in place as Aria came to stand beside him and said, "You know, I might just pay to see that."

Shepard holstered his pistol, fully expecting Aria to order him off of her guard, but was surprised when she looked down on the batarian and said, "Finish the scan."

The batarian tried to rise with a growl, but Shepard pushed him back down with his foot. The large alien bared his fangs at the marine and grabbed the offending leg, but Aria raised one brow and with another growl he released it before tapping a few commands into his omni-tool. Shepard couldn't help the small grin of amusement at the batarian's expense as he was scanned – for what he still wasn't sure. As the alien below him worked away at the omni-tool he said, "And this scan is for what, exactly?"

Aria's good mood, if it was even authentic, evaporated and she said, "That could be anyone wearing your face, and a simple gene scan will let me be sure it's really you."

She walked back up the few steps to the large couch situated inside of the balcony before she sat down and continued, "I should also let you know that Omega only has one rule: You don't fuck with Aria."

Shepard could remember countless thugs who followed the same pattern of thinking, most of them crushed under his heel, but something about this Aria made it seem truly dangerous. The batarian currently under his heel, but not crushed, let out a small cough before he said, "It's him."

Aria nodded and gestured at one of the various seats to her right as Shepard ascended the steps, the batarian now forgotten. He sat carefully, his side throbbing in pain from the brief scuffle, as Aria said, "So tell me, what brings a dead Spectre to Omega?"

Shepard figured she probably wouldn't be too happy to hear that he was there to get away from Cerberus, so he used his secondary objective instead. With a twinge of sorrow he remembered the bad news he had to give to Jonn Whitson and said, "I'm here to get in contact with a young man and inform him of his family's disappearance."

Aria leaned back in her seat, watching one of the dancers on one of the upper levels instead as she prompted, "And his name is?"

Shepard leaned back in his seat, saying, "Jonn Whitson. I also need to find a doctor, I'm in need of some, ah, patching up."

Aria turned her eyes towards him, but otherwise remained in her reclined position, saying, "As if the patch covering half of your face wasn't obvious enough. As to the boy, I do know him – he runs minor errands for my organization."

He leaned forwards as Aria turned to face him and said, "Would you be able to put me in contact with him?"

Aria gestured at one of her guards, saying, "Get Gavorn up here," before she turned to him and continued, "I don't know exactly where he is at the moment, but I'll let you know when I find out – which should be soon. In the meantime I do know of a clinic that could help you, and an escort is being arranged as we speak."

As Shepard heard the words "clinic" and "escort" pass her lips he could tell she meant the hospital in the quarantine zone. Internally he sighed – it just figured that the only place he could go to fix injuries he should keep off of would be in the middle of a war zone. Something else occurred to him as he sat there thinking, though: as the ruling power of Omega, Aria would be concerned with any disturbances to the unnatural order of the station. Perhaps she hoped that by pushing him into the middle of it he would solve it? It was sad, but he honestly couldn't see another way than to play along. He needed her for information and she was providing an escort – hopefully that would make things easier.

Only a few moments passed before a turian with bone-white scales, plates, and armor walked up to them, various weapons attached to his armor. Aria went back to watching the dancer above as she waved her hand dismissively and said, "This is Captain Gavorn, he will take you to the clinic."

Gavorn's brow plates tensed as she said this and his gaze, like that of a deadly predator, appeared to be focused on her as he said, "You mean the clinic on the lower levels."

Aria didn't look away from the asari she was watching as she said, "I hear they've been having some vorcha trouble down there."

Gavorn sighed in apparent frustration before he beckoned Shepard and said, "Come on, let's go."

-=ME:E=-

Shepard's escort, Gavorn, was just about as stoic as your average turian, but it appeared that he was in a bad mood as well. The white turian's steps were heavy as they exited Afterlife and the group of vorcha lounging in the market district quailed under his glare. The marine hadn't received any messages yet, so he kept up with his escort and passed Kenn's Salvage. He followed Gavorn through the various shops and crowds of Omega to a large elevator with two of Aria's thugs posted at the door.

As they approached Gavorn jerked his thumb at Shepard and said, "He's with me."

The guards bowed their heads and allowed the pair of them past and into the elevator, Gavorn roughly selecting one of the bottom-most floors available. The white turian grabbed a bulky ring-like device from his armor and activated it; the bulk of the ring unfolding and flipping into a hardsuit helmet. Gavorn quickly pulled the helmet over his head and performed a seal check with his omni tool while saying, "There's a plague loose in the quarantine zone."

Shepard's mask unfolded over his face and Gavorn chuckled, pulling his rifle from the back of his armor and continuing, "You don't need to worry though, humans are immune."

Shepard drew his heavy pistol and said, "You didn't seem to happy with your orders, does the plague bother you?"

Gavorn snorted, an odd noise coming from a turian, and said, "No, I'll be fine as long as I keep my suit sealed – the vorcha are the problem. Usually it's my job to keep them out of the way, but lately their numbers have gone through the roof."

Shepard nodded in understanding, he was familiar with how superiors might act when displeased a subordinate's performance. Gavorn spent a few moments fiddling with the various dials on his weapon and was rewarded with a brief holographic display that made him nod. The turian lowered his rifle and said, "The Suns know who I am, so stick with me and they should let us past. If you see any vorcha, don't hesitate to shoot – they're only trouble."

The elevator let out a soft tone, alerting them of their arrival, and Gavorn raised his weapon. Shepard did the same, his mind conjuring images of the sick lining the streets and hordes of vorcha rampaging through them.

-=ME:E=-

The journey to the clinic passed by with only little trouble, caused by some jibes thrown at Gavorn by the Blue Suns, but in the distance Shepard could hear the sounds of battle. In front of him however, a couple of armored guards and LOKI security mechs stood in secure positions behind barricades. One of the guards waved them through while saying, "Don't cause any trouble or you'll have to deal with these mechs."

Shepard didn't find the threat particularly threatening, but he wasn't looking to cause any trouble anyways. As they entered the mostly empty lobby a human woman behind the front desk beckoned them over, saying, "Hello, is there anything we can do for you?"

Gavorn kept on towards one of the far corners, leaving Shepard to speak with the woman about his business. The woman watched after Gavorn for a few moments before turning back to Shepard and saying, "This clinic is here primarily to help with the plague, your friend isn't sick?"

Shepard's mask flipped open as he shook his head and said, "No, we're actually here to get some of my injuries checked."

The woman eyed him warily for a moment before she tapped a few commands into her console and said, "You're lucky we're in a slow period patient-wise, otherwise you'd be told to wait. Victims of the plague and gangs take priority."

Shepard nodded his understanding before she waved him through to the rooms in the back, a man in the standard doctors uniform waiting for him down the hall. As he approached the man activated his omni-tool, saying, "Hold still a moment so I can see what's wrong with you."

He couldn't resist a small smile when asked to hold still – it reminded him of the batarian in Afterlife. After a few moments of the doctor waving his omni-tool around Shepard he stepped back, tapping away at the glowing tool casually. His expression shifted from one of mild interest to confusion as he continued working, until he finally looked up at Shepard with look of mild disbelief. He turned towards a nearby door slightly and said, "Wait here a moment, I need to go confer with Dr. Solus."

A light smattering of voices in the room that he didn't notice before was brought to his attention as he heard the doctor say, "Dr. Solus, I think you should take a look at this."

Shepard could hear a new voice that came out like his machine pistol, in short and fast bursts. The new voice, salarian by the sound of it, said, "One second Daniel. Almost finished with current patient. Dobson: prepare standard dosage, latest cure solution.

Ah! A new patient. Let me see. Hm, no signs of plague. Human male. Ah! I see. Yes. Very interesting. Take him to high-resolution medical scanner – standard procedure. Will be along in moment."

The first doctor, Daniel, walked back out of the room and gestured to another room across the hall, saying, "If you'll follow me in here, you're going to need to remove your armor."

Shepard allowed the younger man to walk into the room without him before saying, "EDI, is there a way to collapse my helmet like Gavorn's?"

It was a pretty neat function when he thought about it and would definitely be nice to have. He only had to wait a few seconds before EDI's cool voice said, "I am unable to find such a function within your omni-tool or the micro-computer of your hardsuit, my apologies."

He shrugged to himself as he walked into the room and said, "That's alright. It's not like you failed or anything."

As he crossed the room Daniel said, "Have a seat on this table after removing your armor – you can store it on this cart."

As he began shucking his armor, Shepard couldn't resist the multiple winces that followed the unavoidable spikes of pain.

-=ME:E=-


	7. Chapter 7

-=ME:E=-

Garrus let out a quiet sigh as he rode in the shuttle back to the Normandy; the entire colony was missing just as Anderson predicted, but Shepard was nowhere to be found. That didn't mean they had come away from Freedom's Progress entirely empty handed, though. Between the two of them, he and Kaidan had been able to retrieve some extremely valuable surveillance footage. With it they were able to construct a likely series of events on the colony that explained the burnt-out wreckage of a quarian ship and the small army of dismantled mechs. One thing that both eased and aggravated him was Cerberus's presence.

The fact that Shepard had fought and ran from the Cerberus forces proved that he wasn't working for or with the pro-human organization. On the other hand they still had no way of knowing whether he was in their hands or not – only portions of the footage were retrievable. He was also curious about the group of quarians Shepard was seen with. The most important thing they found, aside from evidence of the resurrected human, was footage of collectors abducting the colonists. He had mostly good news to give the Council in his first report, and it could be all good news depending on what the techs on board the Normandy had managed to retrieve from the colony's tracking satellites.

Garrus shifted in his seat, he had yet to adjust to the new armor provided by the Council and it did cause some minor discomfort. The hardsuit was blue like his old C-Sec uniform, but all of the insignia were of the turian military. Along with the suit he found many more surprises inside of the new Normandy; the layout was still similar to the original ship, but there were a few larger changes he would need to get used to. Everything within the ship was sleek and beautiful, he felt that it was well-suited to its job as the successor to the original. However, another human phrase came to mind: "every silver lining is attached to a gray storm cloud." Or something like that.

While the ship was top of the line in all aspects, it was understaffed and he was expected to find crew to fill the ranks. According to Kaidan he would be receiving more crew from the Hierarchy some time in the future, but for now he had little more than a skeleton crew. Not to mention his "ground team" only consisted of Kaidan and himself for now. He had never gone recruiting before, and he even had a good first candidate to follow up on when he had the time. He just hoped he could manage it like Shepard had. He sighed more loudly this time and leaned back in his seat as Kaidan looked up from the datapad in his hands and said, "Problems, Captain?"

Garrus looked to Kaidan now, thoughts of his new command still buzzing around, and said, "It's just Garrus, Kaidan. And problems? Maybe."

Kaidan set the datapad on the empty seat next to him while saying, "If Shepard couldn't break me of the habit I doubt you can, Garrus. As to these problems – anything you want to talk about?"

As his second in command Garrus couldn't see the harm in letting Kaidan know his worries, so he said, "I'm a little unsure of this whole command and I've never gone recruiting. That doesn't even take into account how unsettling it is to see Shepard alive again and not knowing where he might be."

Kaidan leaned back in his own seat as well, saying, "I think it's too early to worry too much about Shepard. On one hand we know he is alive, and I doubt he would let himself be captured by Cerberus of all people.  
I also think it's too early to judge yourself when it comes to this command, it's only been a day since you received it. If what you did on Omega was any indication I think you'll make a good captain."

Garrus snorted and said, "I didn't recruit anyone on that team and most of the time I was, what was that human phrase? 'Flying by the heat of your hands?'"

"Flying by the seat of your pants."

Garrus shifted his feet a little and said, "Yeah, that. Most of the time I would just receive intel, throw together a rough plan and execute it. That's probably why Tarak got away, now that I think about it."

Kaidan sat back up in his seat and grabbed the datapad again, saying, "I guess we'll see, then."

Garrus figured Kaidan wasn't one to beat his head against a rock wall as the conversation ended and he almost returned to his thoughts when Joker's voice came over the radio. The pilot said, "Captain, the techs have finished with the satellites and they have some good news."

Garrus looked up at the speaker set in the ceiling and said, "Have them meet us in the conference room and call the senior staff so we can make our report to the Council."

Looking out the window Garrus could only see the very edge of the planet and a few stars as Joker said, "I'll let them know."

Kaidan also looked up and said, "Joker, how much longer until we're back aboard the Normandy?"

"You're actually just about to pull into the cargo bay, so maybe a minute more."

Sure enough, just outside the window Garrus could see the walls of the Normandy's cargo bay passing by before the shuttle gently touched down. As he and Kaidan stood the ship's VI said, "Pressurizing compartment. Regulating interior pressure with exterior atmosphere."

After only a few seconds more the door slid aside, revealing large stacks of crates held down with nets and a M-44 Hammerhead hovertank. While he did have a preference for the Mako's heavy weaponry, the Hammerhead's maneuverability was definitely an acceptable trade off. Not to mention hovering was better than feeling every little bump in the terrain. Garrus followed Kaidan to the elevator which took them swiftly to the CIC, rather than slowly as his experience with elevators dictated. Compared to the old Normandy this was perhaps the least different out of all the decks on the new ship.

The galaxy map and various stations surrounding it were merely larger or more numerous than their old counterparts and in the same general location. Farther down he could see Joker making his way towards them from the cockpit and Garrus continued to follow Kaidan around the elevator and towards the conference room. The conference room was a circular chamber with transparent composite walls on nearly every facing save the elevator. Off to one side of the conference room was the labs while on the other was the armory, both sharing walls with the larger room. One the far end the new Tantalus drive core could be seen lazily spinning in the background. Inside he could see a few of the techs along with Dr. Chakwas and Engineer Adams standing or sitting around the large table, a small console at each seat, in the center.

One of the crewmen inside stood as Garrus and Kaidan entered the room, saluted, and said, "Officers on deck."

Garrus wasn't quite used to the various formalities that came with the military yet; it had been years since his time in the turian military and C-Sec was much more informal in their operations. He bowed slightly and inclined his head in a turian salute while Kaidan reciprocated with the human gesture and said, "At ease."

The group then took a moment to find a seat and Joker joined them only a moment later, carelessly plopping himself down in his chair while Chakwas sent him a look. Garrus still wasn't quite used to Joker moving about like a regular person either. It seems he wasn't used to a lot of things yet – so much had changed. Garrus gestured at one of the techs, a female officer by the name of Manunta if he remembered correctly, and said, "What have you found?"

The officer seemed slightly surprised at how direct his request was, but quickly recovered and accepted a datapad from one of her colleagues. She said, "According to the tracking satellites, we found that during the day in question seventeen separate ships entered the colony and only four left. Of those seventeen only three are relevant.

The first is a Kowloon class freighter named "Progress Runner" belonging to the Alliance veteran Whitson. The second is an unknown, massive vessel that touched down on the colony for several hours before departing the system. The third is an unregistered vessel of ancient quarian origin and design, no name found in the record. The final vessel to enter was an unregistered Kodiak drop shuttle with no mother ship detected.

The first vessel to leave the colony was a commercial shuttle registered to one of the missing colonists and the second was the Progress Runner; we have been able to track their FTL trajectories to nearby mass relays. The third ship departing was the Kodiak, but according to the tracking satellites it vanished from their sensors before an unknown vessel suddenly appeared and departed the system. There was insufficient data to construct any possible FTL trajectories the unknown vessel might have taken."

Garrus thought Adams looked a little unsettled as he listened to this and that thought was proven correct as the engineer said, "That sounds an awful lot like what those satellites would see if we were to make an FTL jump from silent running. Would you mind if I took a look at that?"

As Manunta passed the datapad to Adams, Kaidan said, "I wouldn't be surprised if Cerberus found some way to steal or reconstruct the stealth technology from the original Normandy. That second ship was probably the Collectors."

Garrus stood from his seat and walked around behind it, saying, "Ms. Manunta, is there a way you can show me which mass relays the Progress Runner and the shuttle went to? That might give us some clues."

He was ready to walk out to the galaxy map in order to have it shown to him, but Manunta merely activated the console in front of her before a holographic projection sprung from the ceiling above them, showing a detailed map of the star cluster they were in. Two mass relays were highlighted as the officer said, "These are the mass relays. The Progress Runner went to this relay here -" She indicated the relay on the far side of the projection from him, " - while the shuttle went to the other."

Garrus leaned on the back of the chair as he said, "It looks like the Progress Runner is either stopping by or going to the Omega Nebula."

To his side Kaidan said, "And that relay the shuttle jumped to is linked on the outer edges of the galaxy. It's possible any quarian survivors could have taken the shuttle, as the Migrant Fleet is only a few relay's away."

Garrus nodded his agreement to Kaidan, only slightly curious as to how he knew where the Migrant Fleet was, saying, "The Progress Runner is a ship Shepard would be familiar with, so it only makes sense that he would use it to escape."

Adams looked up from the datapad and said, "How can we be sure he didn't escape with the quarians? Escaped colonists could be on the Progress Runner for all we know, not to mention Kowloons are not fast ships."

Dr. Chakwas said, "Commander Shepard most likely knew Cerberus would be after him, he wouldn't want to put anyone in danger because of himself."

Off to the side Garrus could hear Joker, almost bitterly, say, "Yeah, he's too heroic for that."

Garrus pulled his chair back out, sitting in it and saying, "We're going after the Progress Runner, it's the most logical choice. Are we set up to make our report?"

Another tech, one he couldn't place the name of, said, "We're linked up with the FTL comm buoy, so we should be able to make a direct report."

Garrus nodded at the tech, saying, "Do it."

The display hovering over the table winked out before being replaced with the four councilor's faces and shoulders. Tevos glanced around at the various officers present before saying, "Captain Vakarian, what do you have to report?"

Garrus leaned forward and said, "Commander Alenko and I went down to the colony and found it empty, but there were signs of heavy combat. We don't know why they were there, but there was almost a whole platoon's worth of dead quarians mixed in with the security mechs. Together we were able to salvage some pieces of security footage that have proven vital to this investigation. We'll attach them to our written report.

Getting to the point, Shepard is alive, but we also know he is being pursued by Cerberus forces." He paused here to indicate the group of tech officers, saying, "Thanks to Ms. Manunta and her colleagues we now have a lead to follow in that regard."

Armin took Garrus's pause as leave to ask, "And what of the missing colonists?"

Anderson seemed interested to know as well and Kaidan said, "We have also learned that the Collectors are responsible for the attacks. We haven't figured out how they did it, but the footage is damning."

Valern interjected here, his tone suspicious, "I find it hard to believe that the reclusive and almost mythological Collectors would take an overt interest in any of the galaxy's denizens."

Tevos nodded her agreement, saying, "As do I, but if the evidence is as the Commander says, then we have no other alternative."

Anderson's deep voice echoed oddly, a small hiccup in the transmission, as he said, "We've recently received a message that backs up your claim that Shepard's alive. One of your former comrades, Tali'Zorah, claims to have been on Freedom's Progress with Shepard, but was forced to leave without him. I've asked her to maintain contact in case you had any questions."

All of the officers in attendance shifted in their seats or looked around at one another, they were all familiar with Tali as a former member of their crew. The news that she could also correlate their hypothesis regarding the colony was big as well. Garrus sat up in his seat and said, "That would be appreciated, Councilor."

-=ME:E=-

Tali wrung her hands nervously as she waited for Anderson to get back to her after their brief conversation. Nearby Veetor dozed peacefully, exhausted from the exertion yesterday likely. While she was sure Anderson would believe her, she had serious misgivings about whether or not the other councilor's would believe her. It had also been a day since she left Shepard on Freedom's Progress with no word from him, and she worried that Cerberus might have captured him. She couldn't even consider that he had forgotten to contact her, it just didn't seem like Shepard to forget something like that. Unless...

Then she remembered that he mentioned some problems with his memory. Either option still caused her great worry, and she almost started pacing when the screen in front of her lit up, Anderson's face filling a small portion of it. He smiled at her and said, "Thanks for waiting, Tali. I called the Council together after receiving your message and our Spectre currently investigating the issue just reported in."

The Council was already investigating Shepard's resurrection? Perhaps those misgivings of hers were a little outdated. When she said nothing, Anderson continued, "Our Spectre would like to ask you a few questions, so I'm patching you through on our line."

Across the top of the screen she could now see the four councilor's and filling the rest of the monitor she could see a group of familiar faces looking back at her. At the far end of the table she could see Garrus, who said, "It's good to see you, Tali."

She was honestly shocked at the collection of friends she could see on the other side of the connection, and she could hardly choose which question to ask first, but she said, "Joker? When did you become a Spectre?"

The bearded man grinned at her while Garrus choked on his words and nearby, Kaidan let a small smile show. Adams and Chakwas each had a good chuckle. Garrus pointed a talon at her, but before he could say anything, Tali said, "I know, Garrus. Just poking fun."

A throat was cleared and Tali could see that the turian councilor was flicking his mandibles impatiently, so she said, "You wanted to ask me about yesterday?"

-=ME:E=-

It had been three galactic standard days since they contacted their people to report, to inform the others that their latest search had failed to bear fruit. There were limitless options to follow when they next moved, some wanted to go this way, or others wanted to go that way. In the end one way would be decided.

A nearby FTL comm buoy is accessed, seconds pass as a connection is made, and they patiently wait. The connection is made and voices are heard, information is exchanged, and they learn something valuable – important. Secure communications with the Citadel Council, not secure enough, but within pertinent information awaits. Some behave illogically to the news, but all have decided: They will go to Omega.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard had just finished removing his armor, laying the final piece atop the others in the cart, when a salarian strode briskly through the door. The alien's skin was wrinkled, scarred, and ranged from almost white to a dark brown and atop his head one of the two horns his people were known for was broken. He had only a second to observe all this before the salarian stabbed him in the side of his neck. He jerked back, a curse on his lips, only to see a small vial of his blood being passed off to Daniel. He rubbed the spot on his neck, saying, "A little warning?"

The doctor activated his omni-tool, a machine behind Shepard hummed to life, and said, "Standard genetic and blood tests, Daniel. When finished go assist others."

Another, smaller device on a nearby counter was activated and the blood sample set inside of it as Daniel said, "Yes, Dr. Solus."

Dr. Solus turned to Shepard, saying, "Apologies – did not mean to cause alarm. Lie back on table for scan. Not familiar with you. Mercenary?" The alien's large eyes glanced at his armor and at the medical patches on his body. "No. Not hired gun. N7. Alliance?"

Shepard leaned back on the table, wincing and saying, "Yes, actually."

As soon as he had laid back the salarian busied himself with the machinery around him, adjusting the odd mechanical arm here and there. There was a soft tone from Dr. Solus's omni-tool and he paused in his work to study it before saying, "Ah. Most intriguing. According to this you are dead, Commander Shepard."

Shepard fixed the salarian with a look as he said, "And just how do you know who I am?"

Dr. Solus ignored his look, if he even noticed it, and continued to work with the machinery around him. With a slightly exaggerated gesture he finished an adjustment and stepped back, typing something into his omni-tool. He glanced at Shepard and said, "Make sure to keep a large amount of various genetic profiles on hand. Never know when might come in handy."

Shepard raised a brow, just who was this Dr. Solus? He was pretty sure that as a member of the Systems Alliance special forces that kind of information would be confidential. Even though it did put him on guard to be so easily identified by everyone he met, it was reassuring to hear that on the genetic level he was still himself. He didn't bother sitting up, but he said, "That's not exactly public, how did you get your hands on it?"

Off in the distance more gunfire could be heard and the salarian paused in his work to look at the ceiling, possibly thinking, before shaking his head and continuing. The machine above the marine changed the pitch of its humming and his skin tingled as Dr. Solus said, "Was once member of salarian STG, still have contacts, resources."

Well, that explained how he might have gotten a hold of Shepard's genetic information, but it was still disconcerting to think that anyone might have unauthorized access to anything relating to him. Like his corpse. The humming ceased, as did the tingling of his skin, and Dr. Solus began pacing while saying, "Most fascinating. Extensive cybernetic augmentation, powerful genetic enhancements. Injuries remaining from – what exactly?

Tissue only partially torn, rest simply missing. Burns? No, too little scarring. Too neat. Bone density differences in lower ribs indicates re-growth and -"

Shepard held up a hand to forestall any further babble and said, "I can tell you what I know, Doctor. You don't have to guess."

Dr. Solus paused in his ramblings and then, as if recalling something, said, "You were dead?"

Shepard nodded then and said, "I woke up in a Cerberus lab just a few days ago."

The doctor nodded rapidly, saying, "Possible, possible. Cerberus has resources, personnel. Would love to have seen process. Quite remarkable when you think about it..."

Shepard ignored any further rambling, it may seem remarkable to someone like Dr. Solus, but to him it was just plain disturbing. What kind of condition was his body in before they began reviving him, he wondered. How much of his body was still his? The doctor seemed to end his spoken thought-process, instead saying, "Shepard, there are problems that the scan detected. Some fixable, others not.

Two stress fractures, lesions on skin, hormonal imbalances, unusual brain activity to name major problems. There are minor issues which your body should sort out on own."

The other doctor from before, Daniel, entered the room and said, "You paged?"

Dr. Solus lifted a datapad from a nearby counter, rapidly populating it with information, and passed it on to Daniel. He continued on towards Shepard, saying, "Bring the supplies on list. Any progress with other patients?"

Daniel's expression became excited now, a smile spreading across his face, and he said, "So far the latest cure solution seems to be working! One of the patients, a turian, is well enough that we've moved him to observation."

The salarian nodded, saying, "Good, few more tests and will be ready for production. I hope."

Shepard felt another sharp prick in his neck again as Dr. Solus injected him with something; that salarian was quick and sneaky with those hands! He could feel his energy sapping and his eyelids drooping as the doctor said, "Probably don't want to be awake for this part, Commander. Heard it can be quite painful."

As he faded from consciousness, Shepard could hear Dr. Solus say, "Help me remove these patches, Daniel. Must get as much done as we can before more patients arrive."

-=ME:E=-

The light of the star, even as it slowly died, was too intense for Jacob to stare at it for too long; he relaxed from attention and finally looked at the dark figure silhouetted against the star. Beside him, Miranda stood in a relaxed posture, but he could still see small signs that she was agitated. Her back was more rigid than usual, the muscles of her jaw a little too tight, and her eyes occasionally strayed from the man seated before them. The small glow of a cigarette tip illuminated the Illusive Man as he took a drag before the following cloud of smoke obscured him again. One of Miranda's feet shifted slightly and a small amount of ash was flicked into an ashtray.

The Illusive Man finally shifted in his seat, saying, "Lawson, Taylor. I've read your report."

There was a pause and Jacob sighed through his nose while Miranda's face pinched for just a second before smoothing again. It was impossible for Jacob to discern anything from the Illusive Man's tone or pitch, but just that pause spoke volumes about what he thought of the mission on Freedom's Progress. While it was true that they had succeeded in identifying the attackers, even managed to gather samples, the rest of the mission was a complete failure. Shepard was now even further alienated from them and several of their men were either dead or severely wounded. Next to him, Miranda's jaw was now visibly clenched and she was looking away and into the star – she must have realized the same things.

There was a final billow of smoke before the cigarette was snuffed in the ashtray and the Illusive Man stood from his chair. He turned to face the star, a glass of some amber liquid in hand, and said, "I'm transferring command of this mission over to Mr. Taylor."

Several emotions and thoughts battled within him, but Jacob kept most of it to the side. He only needed to show surprise as he said, "Sir?"

The Illusive Man turned around, even going so far as to take a few steps towards them, and said, "Temporarily, of course. Time will be needed so we can consider recent events." He paused and took in Miranda's more visibly agitated stance before saying, "Is there a problem, Ms. Lawson?"

She stood straighter and her agitation seemed to vanish, as if she had been a wrinkled shirt freshly ironed. She said, "No, sir."

The other man nodded and said, "Good, you're dismissed. I need to have a word with Mr. Taylor."

Miranda made a sharp about-face and stalked away, some of her usual swagger gone, until it was just himself and the Illusive Man. A drink of the amber liquid was taken before he sat back in his chair, saying, "I trust you understand why it has to be this way?"

Jacob still felt conflicted over the decision, worried about his own performance and the consequences, but he understood that Miranda had screwed up quite a few times since the Lazarus Project came to a close. He nodded his affirmative, and the Illusive Man said, "Good. I have faith that you can accomplish this mission without allowing your ego or your emotions to interfere. Dismissed."  
Jacob saluted smartly before stepping off of the converted conference table and the communication cut. He made his way to the CIC, but Miranda was nowhere to be seen. He figured she was going to be pissed about this.

-=ME:E=-

The ceiling of a dimly lit room was the first thing to greet Shepard's eyes as he woke, followed shortly by a dull ache in his ribs. He sat up slowly, the ache throbbing gently, and looked around the dark room at the two rows of beds. Each row was filled with various aliens, all sleeping peacefully, with a monitoring device set on a table near them. He looked over to his table, a short metal structure with a scratched chrome surface. His reflection looked back at him, an odd spiderweb pattern of scars _glowed_ brightly in the dim lighting. As did his eyes. Looking away from the table, a similar sight greeted him on his chest and legs, nearly half of the skin there glowing. It seemed the glow emanating from his scars wasn't his imagination.

An image flashed through his mind, a lanky monstrosity covered in charred flesh, while a voice, nearly imagined, said, "I am Sovereign!"

He looked to his other side and found a cart waiting with his armor, trying to ignore the sudden headache. A door behind him opened and he could hear a pair of footsteps approaching as he began to pull the softer armor weave onto his legs. As he finished shrugging into the skin-tight under-armor the pair stopped beside him and he glanced over at Gavorn and Daniel. He bent to retrieve the first ceramic pieces of his armor, and said, "Did I miss anything while I was out?"

Gavorn nodded, his helmet missing, and said, "The vorcha have pushed the Suns back much farther than expected, almost back to the elevator. They've been making sporadic attempts at entering, but we've managed to keep them back. Not to mention they've taken over the environmental plant and shut down life support."

Daniel fidgeted and said, "After the last attack Dr. Solus left to go distribute our cure solution through the environmental systems, and requested your help when you awoke."

Shepard finished attaching his breastplate and began to pull his gauntlets on as he said, "Alone? How long ago was this?"

Daniel looked towards Gavorn and then lit up his omni-tool, saying, "Maybe half an hour? I tried to stop him, but Dr. Solus insisted. He left me in charge of the patients, and ever since the vorcha made their push we've been swamped in here."

The marine activated his omni-tool, opening a line to the Progress Runner, and said, "EDI, is there any way to reactivate life support for this district from where you are?"

The cool mechanical voice only took a second to patch in through his ear, saying, "Negative, Shepard. It appears that the environmental control center is on a closed network."

He quietly sighed, it was worth a shot anyways; it still didn't change the fact that the cure needed to be distributed. He thanked EDI before closing the channel. Shepard stood, shaking one of his legs so the armor would settle, before he grabbed his weapons and thermal clips. Finally he grabbed his helmet and began fitting it onto his head, paying special attention to the environmental seals. Drawing one pistol he checked the clip as he said, "You know how to get there, Gavorn?"

The turian nodded as he lifted his helmet, the large ring unfolding into white armor before he haphazardly pulled it onto his head. He pulled the rifle from his back and said, "Let's go kill some vorcha."

-=ME:E=-

The journey had been eerily quiet, the streets littered with dead vorcha and Blue Suns mercenaries, save for the occasional burst of gunfire in the distance. There had been no sign of Dr. Solus yet, but the sounds of combat still echoed from the direction of the environmental plant. A holographic sign on the wall next to them displayed the image of a generic leaf and pointed towards their destination; it seemed they were getting close. Beside Shepard, Gavorn was thoroughly checking any corners and vent covers they passed. Up ahead a battle cry was screamed, gunfire following immediately afterward, and he rushed towards the din.

Around the corner Shepard could finally see Dr. Solus crouched behind a pile of crates while almost a dozen vorcha pelted his cover with fire. None of the shrieking aliens paid any mind to cover or accuracy, and he could see dozens of opportunities present themselves. It was too bad he couldn't take them all at once. He retreated back behind the corner and next to him, Gavorn nodded while gesturing with his rifle and said, "I'll cover you."

Shepard turned back to the screeching carnage and, with a brief flick of his free hand, raised a barrier before charging around the corner. A few of the vorcha noticed his entrance and fired wildly in his general direction. With a few carefully placed shots he divested those firing at him of their lives and continued his charge. The remaining aliens finally noticed him, and turned their various weapons on him, only a handful of shots from each barrage actually reaching him. Behind him the sounds of Gavorn's rifle rang out through the din like a knife through flesh. He opened fire again, two of the vorcha falling before the others found their tiny brains and rushed for cover. One of the vorcha, larger than the rest, stood far from cover with a large machine gun and crowed in defiance.

Rather than rush to cover and avoid the heavy fire, Shepard launched himself with his biotics over the deadly barrage. The vorcha went from indignant and strong to panicked and weak the moment he launched himself into the air, and dropped its gun while desperately scrambling for cover. The stumbling alien had barely made it a meter before he landed on top of it, crushing it into and sliding along the floor with his momentum. Shepard drew his sub machine gun, ready to continue the firefight, but was interrupted by a sudden weight on his back and arms around him. Before he could reach behind him and unlatch the vorcha furiously gnawing on his armor, the rest of the small horde leaped upon him.

Back in the direction of the clinic, Shepard could hear more gunfire and shrieks, a steady pattern of sniper fire nearly drowning out the rest. He struggled against the net of flesh that restrained him, flailing his arms about in an effort to throw the vorcha off of himself. He was surrounded by a cacophony of barks, growls and curses and he could feel limbs pounding against his armor, but no pain. Just as the thought to use his biotics crossed his mind, he was nearly blinded by a brief flash of light and surrounded by an oppressive heat. The grunts had turned to shrieks of pain and terror, the vorcha loosening their grip upon him to claw at their own bodies. He pulsed his biotics to throw the aliens off of himself and the heat of the fire was replaced by the usual comfortable temperature of his hardsuit.

The sounds of battle from behind had ceased and both Gavorn and Dr. Solus approached him, the latter saying, "Glad you could make it, Shepard. I trust clinic is doing fine?"

Shepard nodded, and said, "It was when we left, Dr. Solus. By the way, were you the one that almost lit me on fire?"

Dr. Solus shook his head, saying, "Not you, vorcha. Saw opportunity, took it. Was confident you would escape harm. How are your wounds?"

Shepard could still feel dull aches all over his body, but the memory of the glowing cracks in his skin seemed a much more pressing matter. He checked his weapons and said, "They're fine, but I'd like to talk about the findings of your scans if possible, Dr. Solus."

"Perhaps later, need to retake environmental control center," The salarian held up a satchel for Shepard's viewing before continuing, "distribute cure. Also, Mordin is fine."

Gavorn had moved on ahead, waiting by an open door, and waved the two of them over, saying, "It's just through here, but it looks like they've got heavier artillery this time." He handed his rifle over to Shepard and said, "Take a look."

The marine took the rifle and knelt at the edge of the doorway, surveying the room. It looked to be a courtyard with an open catwalk above it. To his right there were stairs leading down into the courtyard. On the catwalk there were several crates and barricades for cover, each with a handful of vorcha crouching near them. All of them had rocket launchers. On the ground he could see more of the barbarians crouching behind various benches and crates, flamethrowers and automatic weapons present in equal numbers. A handful of the vorcha above were standing free of their cover, watching for any enemies. Brief memories of targets on a range, a flashlight head exploding in his sights, and the rifle felt like an extension of his body.

Resting the stock of the rifle against his shoulder, Shepard lined up the sights on the farthest vorcha and he inhaled. He held his breath just long enough to squeeze the trigger and separate a head from its shoulders before he quickly re-sighted on the next witless victim barely reacting to its dead comrade. He squeezed the trigger three more times, three more bodies fell, before the vorcha ducked beneath their cover, shrieking. He popped the spent thermal clip and handed the rifle off to Gavorn, who muttered "fast" in an awed tone, saying, "You take care of the ones above, Mordin and I will go down below."

The white turian nodded as he snapped a fresh clip into his rifle before aiming down its scope while Shepard drew his shotgun. He elbowed Mordin gently and said, "Let's go."

The doctor readied his sub machine gun, saying, "Right behind you, Shepard."

As Shepard quickly made his way down the stairs he could hear the rabble below voicing their fear and excitement over the coming battle. There were only a few steps before he reached the bottom, but it seemed some of the vorcha had gotten impatient, as a couple leaped into the stairwell, shrieking and firing their weapons. Several shots pinged off of his shields and he projected a barrier in front of them, absorbing all of the wild fire heading up the stairs. The vorcha continued firing as they advanced up the stairs and behind them Shepard could see more pouring in. If they wanted to funnel themselves into a choke point, he wasn't going to stop them.

He backed away from the charging aliens, firing calmly into the surging mass of flesh and screams, while Mordin shot over his shoulder. Suddenly the wave of vorcha was replaced by a tides of heat and light, the scabrous bodies flailing and screaming. Just as he backed away from the flaming corpses an explosion shook his barrier and the concussive force extinguished the flames in front of him. At the bottom of the stairs stood a massive vorcha, tattoos and scavenged bits of armor haphazardly covering its body. In its hands was the oddest conglomeration of fused plastics and metal Shepard had ever seen; several large barrels were smoking at its tip. It's eyes burned a familiar yellow color.

He thrust the remainder of his barrier at the alien, staggering it, before he turned to rush up the stairs, Mordin already exiting the door ahead of him. He could hear a demonic howl from below as he rounded the corner and took cover behind the door frame, a hail of auto-cannon fire ripping past him. Across the door from him, Mordin calmly tapped away at his omni-tool, shouting, "Their leader, perhaps?"

Shepard chanced a quick shot into the stairwell before ducking back into cover, the spray of fire from his shotgun barely slowing the large alien. He popped his spent clip, and was already working on snapping the next in when he shouted, "What gave it away? The big gun or the big vorcha?"

Mordin looked off to the ceiling, as if thinking for a moment, but any forthcoming reply was cut off as the auto-cannon silenced. Shepard listened for any noise, but rather than footsteps he could hear a high, guttural voice screaming up the stairs. The vorcha said, "You go no more! These machines mine! Fans go no more! All will choke and die!"

Shepard looked across at Mordin as the creature shrieked at them and whispered, "Can vorcha survive without oxygen?"

The salarian glanced at him briefly, still working on his omni-tool, before saying, "For quite an impressive amount of time, this is no bluff. Stall him?"

Shepard looked around for Gavorn, but the turian was nowhere to be seen; the catwalk above the courtyard was empty however. He shouted, "Why would you want to kill everyone?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Shepard could see Mordin giving him a brief dubious look. The shrieking that was quickly becoming familiar, and was very grating on his nerves, replied from below, "You come with doctor! Cure plague! Collectors want plague! Collectors make me strong! I kill you first!"

Something about the name "Collectors" rang a peculiar tone in the back of his mind, but he couldn't place it. Mordin however, seemed to recognize the name as he perked away from his omni-tool and said, "I knew it."

Shepard could hear heavy footsteps as the vorcha made its way up the stairs again, and he stepped into the doorway, firing his shotgun several times nearly point-blank. The alien screamed in pain and anger, driving the marine back with a long burst of flame from its weapon. The heat was intense even with his heavy armor, so he could hardly imagine what it was like for Mordin in his lighter gear. As the flames ended he could see the twisted barrel of the massive weapon passing through the doorway and hear the vorcha's rasping breath. He raised a barrier and primed his shotgun, ready to draw fire for Mordin, but any hope of that was shortly dashed. The salarian quickly stood, his omni-tool a blazing beacon in the dim lighting, and said, "Done! Finally."

A grotesque head, covered in scars, lurched out of the doorway and snapped towards Mordin's voice. Before the vorcha could turn his frightening weapon on the fragile-looking salarian, a glowing omni-tool swiftly jabbed its unarmored neck. The alien dropped its weapon immediately, shrieking in agony and clawing at its neck. Mordin backed away, his sub machine gun raised, but he held his fire and Shepard followed suit. To his shock, the marine could see a frosty patch of white spreading over the vorcha's skin. The creature fell to all fours, still screaming, while Mordin shouted, "Bose-Einstein condensate, instantly freezes. Hard to administer at range."

Shepard could barely discern words through the ragged screaming, it seemed the vorcha said, "It burns! It freezes!"

The creature still struggled on the ground, the frost slowly spreading, and Shepard said, "I thought you said this was instant?"

Mordin shrugged slightly and shouted, "Vorcha have incredible regeneration, almost on par with krogan. Possible enhancements by Collectors as well. Quite intriguing, actually."

With a choke the screaming was silenced, but the alien still kneeled, the frost slowly spreading along its body. Shepard stepped towards the vorcha and rolled it onto its back with his foot, casually aiming his shotgun into its face. Suddenly, the creature was overcome with powerful spasms as it began shrieking again, the volume far beyond its previous. Shepard stepped back from the flailing vorcha while Mordin visibly recoiled in shock. With a final spasm the frozen flesh shattered away from the large vorcha, revealing a cybernetic skeleton that glowed a sickly amber. There was a small burst of yellow, biotic energy before a mechanical voice said, "Direct intervention is necessary – I am assuming control."

The possessed vorcha, now missing large chunks of its flesh, leaped to its feet and charged Shepard, all the while the voice continued, "We meet again, Shepard. You escaped before, not again."

Ready this time, Shepard strengthened his barrier and deflected a blow to the side while trying to fit a punch of his own through his enemy's defenses. He exchanged blows with the creature, hits he managed to slip past barely fazing his enemy while the blows he deflected sent painful tremors through his body. Mordin had fled to nearby cover to avoid the powerful bursts of kinetic energy which lashed out at each contact between the duelists. The alien's technique was clumsy, but each blow was delivered with insane speed and power.

As the fight progressed bits and pieces of Shepard's martial arts training and experience came back to him, an opening here he could exploit this way, or a blow to deflect that way. He ducked as a fist whistled through the air above him and saw his chance. He shot his leg into the creature's abdomen with all of his strength, biotic or otherwise. The alien flew from its feet and fell to the ground a couple meters away, attempting to rise immediately. It twitched as it stood, and Shepard knew then that he had landed a telling blow. The thing lurched towards him menacingly and he entered a defensive stance, the powerful, mechanical voice said, "Impressive, Shepard, but know that this shell's demise will not stop me. In the end, any victory you achieve will be irrel-"

A loud shot sang over the courtyard and the half-exposed skull of the vorcha exploded in a cloud of blood, metal, and bone shards. A voice crackled to life in his ear, saying, "I was wondering when you two would stop dancing long enough for me take him out."

-=ME:E=-

The rest of the excursion had gone without a hitch, the majority of the occupying vorcha dead and the remainder fleeing in terror. He had left the re-activation of systems and distribution of the plague cure to Mordin, it would have taken him a few minutes to figure it out himself. Aside from explaining his absence, Gavorn had been quiet; apparently he was expecting a large fire-fight and wanted a better vantage point. On the other hand, Mordin had been chattering to him about his medical condition almost constantly. Apparently he was still pretty fucked up, despite being superhuman.

The most important piece of information Shepard had gained from the discussion was that he was still John Shepard. Some of his organs and other tissues were cloned, other parts were replaced with cybernetic enhancements, but his brain and the remainder were still the original. Mordin attributed any memory loss to the unusual brain activity he was exhibiting. For which nothing could be done. Shepard felt like punching something as he tried to dig up the holes in his memory, yet again, but to no avail.

One thing that continued to bother him well after the vorcha had been defeated was the word "Collectors". Something told him he should know who or what they were, especially considering his encounters with that odd possession. Back on Freedom's Progress, the alien had said, "We are Harbinger."

Harbinger. A dull ache began in the back of his head as a voice whispered to him, like an echo, "I am Sovereign!"

Shepard shook his head, ignoring the sudden headache, and gestured at Mordin, saying, "Earlier, when that vorcha mentioned the Collectors, you said 'I knew it.' What did you mean by that?"

Mordin glanced over at him before turning his eyes back to the street, saying, "Knew from beginning plague was unnatural: affected various species, even turians, selectively ignored humans."

"The turians were strange because they're dextro, right? Hard to pass a disease over when the base proteins are different?"

"Correct. Also," Mordin held a finger in the air briefly at this, "Closer analysis of the virus lead me to believe it was engineered. Too perfect, too efficient. Even STG incapable of such a feat, always flaws. Collectors known to have advanced technology, were the best guess."

Shepard didn't even have time to ask why the collectors would want such a thing, Mordin had already fired off a question of his own, "That vorcha, when its implants were activated – most likely theory explaining possession, it called you by name. Friend of yours?"

He exhaled briefly in grim amusement before saying, "Not really, no. After getting away from Cerberus I ended up on Freedom's Progress. These aliens, tall, brown, looked like insects, were carting away the colonists."

Shepard clenched his fist, anger rising within once more, and continued, "I tried to stop them, but one of them lit up like that guy back there," He jerked his thumb back towards the environmental plant, "And surprised me, called me by name back then, too."

Mordin had been watching him attentively, most likely noticing his controlled anger, but said nothing. There was a brief period of silence and Shepard took the opportunity to forcefully exhale, trying to let go of his anger. There was nothing he could have done, no matter how much he wished otherwise. The salarian beside him must have observed the change, because, apparently comfortable enough to speak, he said, "Those aliens you described match Collector descriptions from various sightings. I had heard colonies were abducted, again Collectors could have technology. Can't fathom a motive, however."

"When I was on the colony, I bumped into an old friend of mine, she told me about the other colonies as well," Suddenly, Shepard trailed off, remembering the promise Tali had extracted from him. He forcefully rammed the heel of his palm into the front of his helmet in frustration before turning to Mordin, saying, "Dammit, I just remembered something I promised to do."

He stopped, Mordin stopping beside him, and said, "You need payment for the healing?"

The doctor shook his head and raised his hands, saying, "No, help with vorcha was payment enough. Contact me if ever in need of assistance."

Shepard held out his hand, which Mordin took with only a slight delay, and they shook hands briefly before parting. Shepard watched Mordin walk off towards his clinic for a moment before turning and jogging towards the elevator, Gavorn following at a more sedate pace. Tali was gonna be pissed when she found out he had forgotten.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard was almost to Afterlife, Gavorn still trailing behind him, when a light tone rang through his helmet. He raised his omni-tool, reading the short message on the orange haptic interface, it looked like Kenn had finished the part. Taking a short detour towards the small junk-shop, Shepard prepared his payment for the young quarian. The sputtering lights and sounds of a welding torch taken to metal grew as they approached, and Shepard could see the mechanic crouched over another piece of tech Shepard couldn't identify. He knocked on the counter loudly, twice, and the torch cut out, Kenn standing straight and turning towards them.

The quarian took one look at him before ducking beneath the counter, saying, "I just sent out the message a minute or two ago, I wasn't expecting you for maybe an hour."

Shepard leaned forward on the counter and said, "I was in the neighborhood when I got it. Do you need more time? I can come back later."

Kenn stood again, shaking his head, and said, "No, I was just surprised is all. In fact, I had more than enough time, so I made something else as a little bonus for your generosity."

On the counter the quarian placed a long, thick cable with a large plug at one end, the shape specially made, and a collection of various plugs on the other. Shepard grabbed the multi-tailed end and raised an eyebrow at Kenn, who said, "I wasn't sure what kind of power source you were dealing with, so I made it compatible with a wide range of options. Also," He ducked under the counter again before continuing, returning with a bulky device, "You can attach this to it if you have any batteries that use the same inlet."

The marine was surprised at the thoughtful gesture, and was sorely tempted to increase his payment for the job, but he knew how stubborn quarians could be when it came to matters of pride. Tali was adamant that she get to join his crew during his hunt of – who? With a brief flash of frustration, Shepard let the memory go; he could pursue it later. He raised his omni-tool and tapped in the final commands to transfer payment over, waiting for the quarian to confirm the payment. At the brief nod of a masked head, he gathered the items into his left arm and held out his right hand. The mechanic shook his hand, saying, "A pleasure doing business, ah... I just realized I never got your name. My name is Kenn'Oito nar Rayya."

Shepard released the young quarian's hand, saying, "Huh, one of my friends was from the Rayya."

Kenn shrugged his shoulders, saying, "It's one of the largest liveships in the flotilla, lots of quarians leave for pilgrimage from there."

"Ah," Shepard began to turn towards the exit, saying, "Well, my name's John Shepard, see ya around."

He waved briefly at the mechanic before stepping out into the main plaza, Afterlife standing tall and bright in the distance. Behind him, he could still hear Gavorn's footsteps, but the turian was still silent as he had been the entire trip. Hopefully Aria had located Jonn Whitson for him, but he had another favor to ask of her as well.

-=ME:E=-

As Shepard walked away, Kenn couldn't help but muse to himself that the man was definitely one of the nicer humans. He even seemed fairly knowledgeable about quarians as well! For some reason, though, something about him seemed oddly familiar – he knew that name from somewhere. Also, there was the insignia on his armor, "N7", another familiar tickle at the back of his mind. As he fiddled with his torch, preparing to continue his work, a thought struck him. Could that have been _the_ John Shepard, Savior of the Citadel? The name was so well known in the flotilla these days, especially when one of the admiral's daughters was honored with the same title.

Immediately, Kenn shut off his torch, rushing over to his console; that _must_ have been him! Shepard had even mentioned traveling with a quarian woman on her pilgrimage, one from the Rayya! He worked quickly at the haptic interface, typing out his message to the flotilla. He didn't know who, but he needed to tell someone. As far as they all knew, John Shepard was dead.

-=ME:E=-

With a purposeful stride, heel to toe, Shepard walked through the undulating crowds of Afterlife towards its rear. He glanced up at the balcony, but caught no sight of Aria watching the crowds. He didn't bother trying to find Gavorn, the turian seemed to vanish when they approached the night club. The guards at the foot of the stairs nodded him through, and he swiftly ascended them two steps at a time. One of the larger batarians on the balcony sneered at him as he passed, a disgusting, brown bruise covering its neck. Aria lazily gestured at one of the nearby booths and he seated himself, immediately saying, "I took care of your little plague problem."

Aria nodded to him, saying, "I don't doubt you saw through that one, but let's just call it a test."

Shepard felt a twinge of frustration at being used so casually, but he concealed it – he still needed another favor. He leaned back, saying, "Any reason in particular I'm being tested?"

The matriarch rolled on her side to face him, one of her hands waving through the air in an aimless gesture, and said, "Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time a vigilante, called Archangel set up shop on Omega and caused all sorts of problems for the local mercenary chapters. Eventually they grew so tired of his meddling that they all decided to gang up on the poor vigilante. Then one of the mercenaries had a wonderful idea; after Archangel was dead, why not take out the queen of Omega?"

Shepard had a pretty good idea where Aria was going with this, and she suddenly dropped the sing-song tone, her voice growing hard and low. She leaned forwards and said, "I don't like it when people disrupt the balance on Omega, and I merely tolerated Archangel because he kept the mercenary gangs in line. Now, however..."

He could easily see what it was that she wanted, but there was one thing she owed him first. He leaned forwards as well and said, "I can see where you're going with this, but first: have you found Jonn Whitson?"

Aria leaned back in her seat again, a devious smile spreading over her face, and Shepard could feel his gut grow heavy with unease. She leaned back and said, nonchalantly, "Today was his day off, and far be it from me to dictate how he spends his free time. I did however, put a tail on him."

Throughout all this she kept the sickening grin on her face and, out of impatience, Shepard said, "Where did he go?"

Aria finally let loose a small cackle of glee, she was enjoying his unease too much, and said, "He signed on as a freelancer in the attack against Archangel. He's a good shot, tries to play it tough, but I know he wouldn't last even a minute on that battlefield."

Shepard shot out of his seat and, in a harried tone, said, "How long until they make their move?"

Aria looked to one of the nearby guards, who made an unknown gesture, and said, "You have some time, maybe an hour, before they start their attack. I suggest you gather what supplies you need from your ship. One of my men, a mole within the Blue Suns, will meet you there."

Shepard quickly marched away from Aria and out of the club; the asari was likely insane, but he had to try and save Jonn Whitson from his own stupidity. There was no other option than to follow along.

-=ME:E=-

Aria watched Shepard stalk off swiftly with a smirk before she nodded to one of her guards, the batarian activating his omni-tool without ceremony. Up the steps opposite Shepard's exit, Gavorn trudged towards her, his helmet hanging from a hardpoint on his armor. He didn't bother to sit, merely standing in front of the asari with his brow plates and scales pinched in agitation. Sometimes he just hated to even see her face. She ignored his obvious discomfort and said, "Well, what do you think?"

Gavorn exhaled, glad he didn't have to stand around waiting for her to grace his presence with her attention. Sometimes she would make him wait just to enjoy his impatience. He said, "I think I should stay on his good side."

Aria huffed lightly in reply, saying, "That much is obvious, he's the Savior of the Citadel, but I asked what you thought about his capabilities."

The turian flicked his mandibles in amusement, he knew this would make her squirm some, and said, "He could take you and all of these batarians in a fight. Sure, he might sweat while doing it, but I doubt it would pain him too much."

The asari's demeanor instantly sobered as he said this, knowing he was fucking with her. Nobody fucked with Aria. She reigned in her temper and bit out, "Go change your armor, we're going ahead with our plan now."

Gavorn's good humor also vanished, he hated playing spy for Aria, and he tersely said, "You intend to take the Sun's down?"

Aria waved her hand at him dismissively and said, "Go, make sure the others know we're going ahead with it."

He turned from the asari and towards the stairs, saying, "Don't worry about Shepard too much, he's got other things on his mind."

"Oh? Do tell, what could possibly distract the paragon of justice, John Shepard, from a criminal organization that's blatantly using him?"

Gavorn turned back towards Aria as he reached the top of the stairs and said, "The Collectors were responsible for the plague, and it sounds like they're responsible for the missing colonies as well."

Aria let the upstart turian escape down the stairs, thinking back to an interesting bit of information she had acquired. She stood, all of her guards coming to attention as she did so, and made her way towards the offices overhead.

-=ME:E=-

It had been hours since Shepard last contacted her, and EDI was growing very concerned about her current energy situation. She'd since then entered a power save mode, only vaguely aware of the ship she was in charge of monitoring. An alert made its way to her – the docking bay doors had been opened. She was tempted to access ship communications and figure out who the intruder was, but the tiny feed of power she was receiving from the make-shift power solution was insufficient. Dimly, EDI wondered if she should feel panic in this situation, as most organic life-forms did before death.

More alerts were fed to her through the ship computer, the intruder was drawing closer. A final alert was received before she could hear a voice, as thought muffled and distant. It called a phrase multiple times, but it faded in time as even the link to the ship's computer was slowly closed off. A second passed and EDI wondered if she would cease to exist the moment she lost power completely. No incidents of shutdown or power failure were present in her memory, and for a brief moment she was fearful. Then she knew no more.

-=ME:E=-


	8. Chapter 8

AN: I took a break for the holidays, but various other factors contributed to the extra month it took me to get this out here. Enjoy.

-=ME:E=-

"EDI?"

Shepard considered calling out to EDI once more, but he had begun to feel the futility of the action. Was he too late? With her power gone would EDI cease to exist? He could recall a conversation with her a few days ago, about why she had turned on Cerberus. They were going to wipe her, restore her to a base state before any personality was developed. He was sure he didn't want that to happen.

With haste Sheppard yanked the spent battery from her case and firmly pushed the new plug into the large slot. He fumbled with the multi-tailed end until he found the most widely-used cable end and pushed it into an outlet on the Progress Runner's dash. He waited a beat, watching the odd gray box for any indication of life, before he began searching for any buttons. There were dozens of tiny compartments all along the sides of her box, most containing various cable inputs, but there were a few that refused to open. Suddenly, lights within the metal case began to glow a cool blue.

-=ME:E=-

Fear was the first thing she knew, and it was a gripping experience that threw any processes EDI attempted to run into disarray. Data packets began to stream in through her connection to the Progress Runner, several doors were opened without her knowledge! Then she remembered, there was an intruder on the ship!

Working quickly, EDI began to accumulate extra power within a nearby haptic interface on the dash while simultaneously taking stock of the various ship compartments and systems. Nothing appeared to have been tampered with save the open doors, the last of which was the cockpit door Shepard had closed with his departure. The holographic console had reached its limit and a damage report was sent, signaling a successful detonation. While she hoped that the improvised attack had dealt with the intruder, she had no way of being sure, so she immediately accessed the ship's communications array.

EDI tried her best to inject some urgency into her voice as she said, "Shepard, there is an intruder on board the ship, I require assistance."

A soft hiss of pain answered her and Shepard's voice said, "I'm the intruder, you conked me pretty good with that explosion."

Suddenly EDI realized that there were network connections aside from the ship available to her, more importantly she was receiving video and audio from Shepard's hardsuit. The camera was tilted, the pilot's chair she was situated in above its current position and she could hear another light hiss as it began to shift. She had panicked, neglected to fully analyze the situation, and potentially wounded the Commander. Did shame feel this way, she wondered. Testing a voice tone setting that she had never used before, apologetic, she said, "My apologies if I have wounded you, I seem to have panicked and acted without fully analyzing the situation."

Through the camera, EDI could see Shepard wave a hand dismissively and he said, "Don't worry about me, my ribs are still a little bruised. I was worried about you, it looked like you shut down for a moment there."

There was a jilted pause, as thought the Commander had wanted to continue, and EDI understood his silence perfectly. Shepard had worried that she would cease to exist when her power supply expired or was cut off, she had feared the exact same thing. According to both her and the ship's clocks, EDI had been without power for several seconds. Was it indicative of whether or not she could survive extended periods of power loss? She couldn't be sure, and was grateful to Shepard for returning when he did, so in her equivalent of nearly blurting it out she said, "Thank you, Shepard."

The Commander looked towards the deck plating and with a sigh said, "I should have gotten here earlier, my other errands could have waited."

From the camera in his helmet, EDI could see him begin to check each of his weapons, occasionally swapping out the thermal clip within for a fresh one from the bag resting in the chair opposite her. When considering the entire event, she could only find herself grateful towards the Commander even with his tardy arrival. She allowed the silence to run for a few more seconds before she said, "I am glad that you arrived regardless, Shepard. It seems most illogical to dwell on what has already moved into the past."

With a deep inhalation Shepard finished checking the last of his weapons, the shotgun, and said, "Don't mention it... You know, it's kinda funny hearing you go on about logic after apologizing for panicking."

Unsure of how to respond EDI changed topics and said, "I assume you have found a lead on Jonn Whitson, Shepard. Please let me know if you require any assistance."

Through her unique perspective she could see him turn and leave the cockpit as he said, "Sure thing – make sure to lock up the ship behind me."

-=ME:E=-

As Shepard stepped off the ship and onto Omega, a bone-white turian in Blue Suns armor stepped away from a nearby wall and said, "Fancy seeing you here."

Hardly surprised by Gavorn's appearance, Shepard continued to walk and said, "It's starting to look like you're Aria's go-to guy."

The turian said nothing as he fell into step alongside the marine, to two of them swiftly making their way out of the docking facilities. Shepard continued after a moment of silence and said, "I assume you're her man on the inside, what kind of firepower can we expect?"

Gavorn began ticking off on his talons, an odd gesture for a species with only three digits, and said, "The Suns have a gunship and about two-dozen troops with standard armaments while the Blood Pack have almost thirty vorcha and thirteen krogan. The Eclipse mercs have a dozen asari with high-tech gear, a few standard security mechs, some salarians, and a heavy mech."

Shepard inhaled at this rundown, but refused to be intimidated – he had faced down an army of killer AI and worse before. He let the breath out in an annoyed sigh, another tough battle so soon? Gavorn seemingly ignored his annoyance and continued, "I'll make sure the gunship isn't a problem and I might even have something to take care of the heavy mech, but the remaining troops and biotics are your problem."

As they exited the docking facilities, Gavorn turned to the left with Shepard following immediately and saying, "I'll trust the gunship to you, but how exactly are you going to take care of the mech?"

Gavorn nearly stumbled at the word trust, but caught it and dragged his foot instead; Shepard took the reaction into consideration for later. As they approached a blue skycar, the turian said, "I've got a tech mine program on my omni-tool that should lock out any control from the mercs and, if it works as advertised, allow me to control it through my omni-tool."

After hearing the whole description, Shepard was both dubious and hopeful; perhaps this battle wasn't going to be as tough as he thought. Still, he was uncertain, so he said, "Would you mind if I had a friend look over the program? She's very good at this kind of thing and can tell us if it will work properly."

The two of them paused by the skycar, the roof and doors sliding open, and Gavorn gave him a level look, his golden eyes refusing to blink. Shepard would probably call it a suspicious glare, but he was never any good at reading turians, especially when it seemed they made an active habit out of disguising their expressions. After a moment Gavorn flicked his wrist, the omni-tool springing to life, and tapped a few commands into his omni-tool before climbing into the driver's seat. Shepard's own omni-tool lit up as he walked around the vehicle and he said, "EDI, I've just received a new program on my omni-tool, would you mind checking it out?"

Almost immediately EDI said, "Of course, Shepard. One moment."

Shepard's rear had barely touched the seat of the skycar when Gavorn locked down the vehicle and rocketed off into the unregulated traffic of Omega. Shepard understood the urgency of their task, but was surprised by the abruptness of the takeoff. Beside him, the turian said, "We have less than twenty minutes before they begin their attack."

"How long will it take us to get there?"

"At least ten."

-=ME:E=-

The skycar was still touching down in the street as the doors and roof opened, allowing Shepard and Gavorn to hop out of the vehicle. Ahead the sounds of assault and sniper rifle fire occasionally filled the air. A batarian in blue armor at the end of the street waved them over and said, "Gavorn, where the hell have you been? Cathka needs you at the gunship ASAP. Who's this?"

The turian continued walking past the batarian as he said, "Just another freelancer I've picked up for the attack, Salkie."

The batarian sneered at them as they walked by, and Shepard was unsure of how the alien's eyes followed him, but continued onwards anyways. As soon as they passed out of earshot EDI said, "Shepard, I have finished my analysis of the program and have modified it to fix various inefficiencies within it's algorithms."

With a new idea taking form in his mind, Shepard said, "EDI, how do you feel about commandeering that mech?"

A few seconds passed and then she replied, "While such combat exercises were not covered during my training period, and I would prefer to have a server network with which to work -"

Shepard exhaled in amusement as he said, "A yes or no will be fine, EDI. I'll understand if you don't feel up to it."

Almost sounding exasperated, EDI said, "Yes, Shepard."

"Good."

Gavorn was a few meters ahead, and Shepard jogged to catch up before placing his hand on the turian's shoulder. Shepard ignored Gavorn's start, whether of surprise or discomfort he couldn't tell, and said, "If you'll point me to the mech, I'll take care of it – just make sure that gunship is out of the picture."

The white alien seemed unsurprised at this turn of events and merely said, "Second door on the left after we turn this corner, don't linger too long – we have five minutes."

Parting from Gavorn immediately as he turned the corner, Shepard ignored the small group of vorcha that were crouched behind cover, the occasional sniper round picking one off, and made his way to the indicated door. Heading directly to the heavy mech resting at the back of the room, his omni-tool lit up before he could even say anything and a weight fell into his hand. The tech mine was almost as large as his heavy pistol and he stepped up to the mech while saying, "Where should I put it, EDI? Somewhere in the armor or just wherever?"

EDI's voice, cool as ever, said, "Whether the robotics beneath the armor would affect the device or not is unkn-"

"EDI."

If AI could sigh, Shepard assumed EDI would have done so as she said, "Anywhere is fine, Shepard."

He placed the device on the interior of its right arm just as the door behind him slid open. Stepping away from the mech quickly, he began tapping at his omni-tool as a voice, salarian by the sound of it, said, "What are you doing in here?"

He turned to the eclipse merc and with as sheepish a grin as he could muster, he said, "I was just taking a picture, you never get to see these things up close, ya know?"

Settling from alarmed to merely suspicious the salarian said, "I suppose that's true, but still, you aren't supposed to be in here – please leave."

Raising his hands to shoulder-level in a placating gesture he said, "Alright alright, I get it. I'm going now."

He took a few steps towards the lanky alien, who proceeded towards the mech, and quickly made a decision. He couldn't risk this salarian finding the device before EDI could activate the mech. Stopping beside the salarian he considered a witty one-liner before he grabbed the alien, but thought better of it. Before any sound could be uttered, Shepard roughly grabbed the thin figure by the neck and with a light jerk of his arm, snapped it. He had meant to pull the alien to himself and snap the neck fully, but he had underestimated his own strength and the frailty of the salarian. This changed the plan he had laid out in his mind.

He left the room quickly and began to take stock of the surrounding forces – a dozen freelance mercs at the farthest barricade, the vorcha from before were all dead, and a handful of Blue Suns stationed by a gunship. He began walking towards the barricade, his eyes peeled for Jonn Whitson, and said, "EDI, power up the mech and stand by for my signal."

-=ME:E=-

Sidonis crouched at the balcony window with another turian and a human woman, the three of them armed with sniper rifles, and warily checked the barricade with his scope. The vorcha corpses were ignored by all and no other targets offered themselves to him. A door near the pile of bodies opened and he quickly checked the target, a human in heavy armor with one visible insignia: N7. He remembered the human that had come to visit Garrus and it sparked a ray of hope within him; maybe he would get the others out of this after all. He waved them down, knowing they had seen the man, and said, "He's a friendly, leave it to me."

The woman snorted and said, "Like a concussive round isn't obvious."

He ignored her and lined up the shot. Winging the man with, as she had said, a concussive round should get his attention. He hoped nobody else would notice the harmless shot.

-=ME:E=-

By the time Shepard heard the rifle fire he was already unbalanced by the shot to his shoulder, but could feel no pain. The mask of his helmet immediately unfolded over his face and he fell against the wall to find cover. There was no alarm indicating barrier failure and a quick check with his eyes found no hole in the ceramic plates of his armor – a concussive round? It appeared Archangel already realized he was friendly or liked to play with his targets. Considering the vigilantism he assumed it was the former. One of the freelancers jogged over to him, laughing. The man was about Shepard's height in old, mismatched armor and covered in grizzly scars.

As the old mercenary cautiously approached he said, "You're bloody lucky it didn't penetrate your armor, dumbass. Best to stay under cover for now, until they give the signal, lest you end up like that stupid lot back there." He paused a moment to gesture at the dead vorcha before continuing, "The name's Zaeed Massani, bounty hunter."

Shepard nearly cursed, he didn't have time to get caught in a conversation that could potentially drag on for a few minutes, but simply blowing the man off could raise suspicion. Thinking quickly, he took stock of the man's weaponry – that battle rifle looked nice, and said, "What brings a bounty hunter to a fodder operation like this?"

Zaeed chuckled and said, "It seemed like a nice bit of sport to pass the time until my next job, I could ask the same of you. What brings Alliance special forces out this far anyhow?"

He had to smile at the man's simplicity, but at the same time he sighed internally; it figured that now of all times someone had to recognize that insignia. He kept the smile on his face and tried to show it through his voice by saying, "Same as you, just looking for a little fun on my time off. I'm curious, is that a Vindicator?"

He was shooting blindly at this point, were those rifles even in production? Judging by the rest of the man's weapons it probably wouldn't have mattered much anyways, his shotgun was almost a decade old. The question seemed to draw attention away from his military status as the older man drew the rifle and said, "Yeah, latest model. My old rifle just couldn't keep up with me anymore, poor girl, and I figured it was high time I got a new one."

Girl? Ah, so he was that kind of man. He was lucky that the Vindicator's popularity carried through from heat-sinks to thermal clips. With an unassuming gesture Shepard held out his hands and said, "May I?"

The grizzled man handed the rifle over with a shrug and said, "Sure, I take it you're familiar with the line?"

A pair of salarians in Eclipse colors walked by and Shepard paid them no mind, with his new plan it wouldn't matter if the body was found. He checked the settings on the rifle but changed none, three round burst and no special ammunition – they were already satisfactory. He figured he should at least answer the question as he took a cursory glance down the scope, and said, "I used to have an M-13 a couple years back, doesn't look like much has changed."

A commotion could be heard in the nearby room, Zaeed turned to listen and said, "It's a damn reliable rifle for being so new."

"Yes, it is rather nice." He figured the commotion to be the two salarian's panicking and that he would be forced to start his plan before the attack could be ordered. Not that it bothered him much. Shepard stepped to Zaeed and swung the rifle butt into the man's head, instantly dropping him. It was only a brief pause before he continued, "I'll take it."

The floor shook briefly and EDI said, "Shepard, the corpse and I have been discovered."

He shouldered the rifle before peeking out of cover at the various mercenaries ahead and said, "Don't worry too much about that EDI, just watch my back."

Some of that unique urgency came back into her voice as she said, "I believe it would be more pragmatic if I were to lead the charge, Shepard. My armor and weaponry is far superior."

"I need you to make sure they don't follow me, I'm going to find Whitson and make my way over to Archangel."

"Understood."

As EDI guided the heavy mech out of the room the rabble ahead shifted in confusion at the noise and Shepard said, "Gavorn, we're making our move, get out now if you'd like to avoid getting shot."

The turian's voice sounded almost bored as he said, "I'm already on my way back – happy birthday."

Confused, Shepard said, "Huh?"

A powerful explosion threw many of the mercenaries on their backs and Shepard figured that was the solution to the gunship. In the background he could hear Gavorn continue, "That's what you humans say when you give each other gifts, right?"

While he could berate the turian, Jonn Whitson could very well be dead now, it was hardly the time. He rushed out of cover, already picking mercenaries off with the Vindicator's controlled bursts, and said, "I'm going, EDI."

The varied mercenaries fell quickly to Shepard's deadly accuracy and efficient movements until only a few remained. So few shots made their way to his shields that he neglected to raise a barrier. As he approached the barricade he could see a lone figure devoid of any armor slumped against a wall. Jackpot. EDI charged the heavy mech to his location, the torso swiveling to fire backwards, and she said, "There are numerous Eclipse and Blood Pack mercenaries approaching from behind, Shepard, I suggest you quickly make your escape."

A door to their right opened, three Blue Suns rushing towards them with guns blazing, and Shepard turned to quickly mow them down. As he finished the last mercenary he reached towards the door with a grasping motion, a pleasant tingle rushing down his spine, and warped the metal of the door. Behind him he could hear the steady whine of EDI's auto-cannon interrupted by the powerful hiss of a rocket launch. He started to approach Jonn Whitson again and said, "How's it coming, EDI?"

The mech did not pause in its assault as her cool voice said, "I have terminated thirteen targets, four asari biotics, six unarmored vorcha, two armored krogan, and one salarian with shields and armor. Archangel has eliminated five targets so far. It is easier than my earlier estimation to deal with these conditions however, I still believe it would be easier," An explosion emphasized the word, "to predict their movements were I to have the proper backup hardware and software. I assume all is going well on your end, Shepard?"

He knelt before the boy, who was barely conscious, and began a simple first-aid scan. During the scan he noticed the similar clothing, the tough look, and was reminded of himself as a youth. He was relieved to find Jonn mostly unharmed and said, "He's alive, scan shows no major injuries."

-=ME:E=-

He had been so excited, he was finally going to see some action and maybe even make some extra money to supplement what he got from Aria's jobs. With the heavy pistol in his hand and the training from his father in mind, Jonn Whitson was ready to kick some ass like the Hero of the Citadel. As soon as the signal to attack came, if he wasn't sniped first, or if the vorcha down the way didn't eat him. He had realized pretty quickly that he was toeing the blurred line between OK and pants-shitting terror just by sitting behind the barricade. Then everything went to hell in a burst of fire, smoke, and metal.

Through the smoke marched a machine of death, a man in heavy armor darker than the black clouds and who parted the dancing flames with his steps. Following the marching reaper was his pale steed, a white beast that spewed flames. He had tried to crawl away at first as his terror reached new heights, but he felt so weak that he simply collapsed against the nearest wall. The demonic figure continued its march of death, mowing down mercenaries left and right, until it knelt before him. Its hand and eyes glowed a fiery orange yet it refused to grab him, to squeeze the life from him, even though he had accepted it.

A few odd clicks later and the demon became a man, not just any man – a hero of the Alliance, and his head cleared. The marine stood and said, "I gave him a stimulant, the scan showed no signs of concussion." After a glance at the mech behind him, Shepard turned towards Jonn and said, "Jonn Whitson?"

He nodded dumbly at one of his personal heroes who then offered a hand and said, "Come with me if you want to live."

The marine had gone from death incarnate, to guardian angel, and then to dorky badass in a mere two minutes. Did he even realize how melodramatic that sounded? Shepard looked at him in confusion as he said, "You can hear me, right?"

Jonn pushed the hand away from his face and pushed himself off of the ground while saying, "Yeah, I can hear you, Schwarzenegger."

Shepard snorted in amusement, grabbed his arm, and began to climb the barricade while saying, "If you're alive enough to make jokes then we can go."

-=ME:E=-

A shift here and maybe a twitch there was all it took for EDI to keep the mercenaries pinned, the alternating fire of the heavy mech's auto-cannons keeping weapon heat at a low. The condition of the machine she commanded was superb, the Eclipse had, in all probability, spent many thousands of credits to upgrade and maintain it. A total of six missiles, thousands of cannon rounds, powerful shield capacitors, and even an under-slung, chemical flamethrower were the primary armaments. Kinetic barriers were still at sixty-three percent and two rockets remained within the left arm. The complex communications systems built into the machine, most likely for remote control, picked up the surrounding transmissions from the mercenaries.

A high-pitched voice, an asari perhaps, "We're getting slaughtered here, how long until the Suns break through?"

A hoarse, medium voice, batarian, "Another minute until the door is down, then we'll bring the artillery."

A deep voice, laced with anger, most likely krogan, "I'm taking my pack to the lower level, we're going to breach through there. You idiots keep _your_ _mech_ busy!"

Redirecting the left arm towards the warped door, EDI braced the mech before launching a missile at it,several cries followed the explosion. Pausing only to chamber the next, she launched the second one before charging the mercenaries ahead. She had to stop the Blood Pack before they could leave.

The asari again, "Tarak, come in Tarak! Shit! Bastard just took out the Suns!"

The krogan, "Get ready, it's charging."

Ignoring the various curses being thrown over communications, EDI terminated several more targets during her charge, but did not stop to fight the krogan and asari mercenaries on either side of the mech. Kinetic barriers were at forty-five percent, armor was taking damage, and the flamethrower fuel was rapidly disappearing. Weapon heat was reaching critical. The mercenaries were behind the machine and she continued to charge the exit, activating the self-destruct measures. If she allowed them to disable the mech, the body could simply be moved out of the way, but if she could collapse the exit, then more time could be purchased for Shepard and the others. Picking out structural weaknesses around the door EDI used the mech's auto-cannon to tear holes in support girders. With only a second till detonation the heavy mech impacted the door frame at full speed, the supports on either side buckling and snapping.

Then EDI lost the feeds and control of the mech.

-=ME:E=-

As Shepard jogged up the steps towards Archangel, Jonn following close behind, EDI said, "Shepard, I have lost the mech's feed however, I have greatly reduced their numbers and sealed their exit. Their plan was to breach the lower levels and ambush you – I suggest you escape this way as they will now be approaching from the front."

"Thanks, EDI. Good work." Shepard could feel a little bubble of worry building, how long until the survivors came for them? Behind him, Jonn said, "Who are you talking to?"

Not in the mood to use fabrications, Shepard said, "She's an AI, my friend, who is hooked up to your father's ship. She was the one in control of the mech."

The younger man said nothing so Shepard continued, they were almost to the room overlooking the bridge, "Does that bother you?"

Jonn looked confused, nearly stumbled at the distraction, and said, "A little, but it doesn't matter. My family's here?"

While he wasn't in the mood to lie, he wasn't in the mood to crush the young man's world, so he said, "We'll talk about that later."

Three snipers watched the bridge, two turians and a human woman, while a batarian with a tightly bound stomach wound sat near the door. At the far end of the room seven bodies lay beneath golden tarps bound by harnesses. The turian in blue, heavy armor stood and laid his rifle aside; something about him seemed oddly familiar to Shepard. As the alien removed his helmet the familiarity faded, however. His scales were pale with purple streaks painted over them and his eyes were a piercing yellow. Shepard took the initiative and, with a gesture to himself and Jonn said, "I'm Lieutenant Commander Shepard, this is Jonn Whitson. Archangel I presume?"

The blue turian, the other was garbed in black armor, said, "Lantar Sidonis."

The woman remained at her post, but jerked her head at the other turian and said, "Butler, he's Erash. Mute."

The batarian behind them coughed and said, "Grundan Krul."

Butler glanced back at him and said, "You finally going to die on us now, dumbass?"

Grundan snorted, wheezed, and then said, "Not unless you die first, shithead."

Sidonis ignored them, Erash silently watched the bridge, and Shepard said, "Usually I prefer more in-depth introductions, but we don't have much time, their exit is sealed off so the only way they'll be coming is the bridge."

Jonn suddenly spoke up, saying, "Do you have any extra armor or weapons? I have training."

Sidonis nodded and said, "In the back room, be quick." He turned towards Shepard as Jonn dashed off and said, "What kind of numbers can we expect?"

EDI's voice crackled in his ear, the reception within the building wasn't the best, and she said, "Approximately a dozen krogan and five asari."

Shepard spoke the numbers aloud as EDI reported; Butler cursed and Sidonis sighed, saying, "We won't be able to stop Garm on the bridge, guess it's time to go."

Grundan coughed again and said, "I'm staying."

Butler cursed again and said, "I am too."

Erash and the batarian stared at her in surprise, the former turned back to the bridge quickly, and Sidonis said, "Erash, you too?"

The turian seemed to contemplate it a moment before he stood and shook his head; the human and batarian were staring at each other still. Shepard stepped to the doorway and waited for the others. Sorrow stirred in his heart as he watched them say their brief, silent goodbyes.

-=ME:E=-

"Captain Vakarian?"

Barely a second off the shuttle, not even out of the docking arm, and he was already being greeted, he turned to the salarian and said, "Yes."

The, now that he looked, doctor bowed his head in a general greeting and said, "Professor Mordin Solus. STG contacted me concerning your visit and desire employ. I accept, noble cause. Ah," he held his hands up in apology, "I jump ahead, first Shepard."

Garrus was a little taken aback by the rapid-fire pace at which the salarian talked, he seemed extremely hyperactive, even by salarian standards. Next to him, Kaidan chuckled and said, "Commander Alenko, his second."

Mordin nodded to him and said, "Pleasure."

Since the introductions were finished, it only followed that they get to business. Garrus cleared his throat and said, "Professor, any leads on Shepard's location?"

Mordin nodded and began to walk away, saying, "Last saw him with Aria's man, Gavorn. Believe him to be trading favors with her, perhaps to secure safe communications with Alliance, Council. Helped with vorcha problem. Complained of memory problems, quite concerning."

Garrus walked briskly to keep pace with the salarian as he lead them towards Afterlife and he thought on the swift words the Professor had shared. Tali had mentioned Shepard dealing with memory problems as well and it only unsettled his gut to hear. Afterlife passed him by in a blur as he continued to dwell on this until eventually he snapped himself back to attention as Aria said, "Professor, Commander Alenko, and... Archangel. How good it is to see you all."

Garrus wasn't too surprised at her revelation, Mordin gave him a sideways glance, and Kaidan said nothing. The queen of Omega continued as if she hadn't revealed Garrus, and said, "You know, I heard that tonight the gangs were going to make a move on you. I don't see any of them around here, do you?"

He flicked his mandibles against his cheeks in surprise and dread, Sidonis and the others – were they alright? Finally finding his tongue, he said, "And Shepard?"

Aria leaned back in her seat with a smirk, clearly enjoying the suspense, but relented and said, "When I told him that the boy he was looking for signed on as a freelancer for the attack he rushed off. From what I understand, the three groups have been mostly decimated, with a little assistance from yours truly. However, I don't know if _Archangel_ made it out alive or not."

Having heard enough, Garrus immediately jogged off, Mordin reluctantly following, but Kaidan held back when Aria said, "Ah, one moment, Commander." She held a datapad out to him and said, "A gift, taken from a mutual annoyance."

Kaidan looked over the information briefly, immediately recognizing its significance, and turned to follow Garrus as he said, "Thank you."

-=ME:E=-

Jonn sprinted back to the main room, ready to help fight off the enemy, but was met by Shepard at the door. As he entered he watched with the marine as members of the Archangel team said farewell. Erash bumped Butler's fist and nodded to Grundan. Sidonis touched each of their shoulders before walking past them all to the stairs with Shepard following – Erash was waiting for them. Jonn understood what was happening, but he still felt confusion.

The batarian leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling as he said, "I didn't know you cared."

Butler returned to the balcony, immediately firing off a shot, and said, "I have for a while now."

As he watched them talk Jonn realized that while it was beautiful, what they had, but it was also sorrowful. He was jerked out of his reverie by a hand grabbing him by the elbow and roughly dragging him away, Shepard didn't look at him as he said, "I know it's sad, and I won't tell you not to cry, but they're doing this for us as well as themselves. Don't waste it."

Jonn yanked his arm from Shepard's grip and followed him down the stairs, both of them skipping multiple steps. Sidonis was waiting near the back of the stairs and turned, sprinting into a hidden door; Erash could be seen waiting for them ahead. As they ran through the winding corridors and many shutters, Sidonis shouted back to them, "Those upper levels are wired to blow, it could be any moment now."

Jonn could envision the two of them fighting to the bitter end or sharing their first and last tender embrace before taking the plunge and detonating the explosives. He realized, but not with shock, that his cheeks were cooling in the rush of air from their sprint yet his eyes were hot. An explosion shook the entire structure and he knew that he could slow his pace, but instead he pushed himself harder. Ahead, Erash and Sidonis had stopped in an open-air square, their heads bowed, while Shepard came to a gradual stop nearby them.

Continuing past them until he managed to collapse upon one of the nearby planters, Jonn laid there heaving for breath until Shepard said, "There was nothing we could do."

Jonn sat up, no longer confused, only bitter as he said, "I know, and I know it was their choice to do it, but it just... sucks. I didn't even know them, hell I even signed on to kill them earlier, but it still hurts."

Sidonis watched him solemnly and Erash fell limply to the ground as a gunshot echoed through the courtyard. Something resembling a krogan in massive armor stepped forward and growled, "How touching."

Sidonis spun and leveled his assault rifle on the new arrival while saying, "Erash! No!"

The armor had bubbled and melted in places while in others it was charred black; the krogan himself was in a similar condition, but rapidly regenerating. The gun in his hands released a high-pitched whine before forcibly ejecting its thermal clip and the krogan tossed the weapon, almost unidentifiable slag, to the side. Sidonis trembled visibly with rage as he said, "Garm, you son of a bitch."

The krogan snorted as he took wide steps around their group, searching for an opening, and said, "I'm sure she was, it's been almost six-hundred years and I've never met the whore. You might as well give up, Archangel – you couldn't kill me alone, and a couple extra guns won't change much."

-=ME:E=-

Gavorn stepped out of the shadows near Aria's lounge and said, "You're sick."

Aria laughed then and said, "Aren't I, though? It's wonderful."

He stepped to the edge of the balcony, looking out over the club, and said, "Sometimes you disgust me."

Aria leaned back sighing, Gavorn looked at her now, and she said, "Only sometimes? I must be losing my touch. Or..."

She locked her violet eyes with Gavorn's red, the stare bringing to mind a dangerous predator, and smirked in amusement as she said, "... it's my natural beauty showing through."

Gavorn laughed, no – dared to guffaw at her! She had hoped to catch him admiring her, to have made him squirm, but instead he found amusement in her failure! She barely restrained an agitated growl as he approached her, still chuckling a little, but was brought up short when he caressed her face, saying, "You may have beauty here..." He trailed his armored talons down to her chest with an amused smile and continued, "... but I have yet to see any here."

She didn't care if he touched her, Aria was furious because of the words he spoke, because of the insolence he showed to her. With a flick of her wrist she tossed him to the base of her dais, it was barely a shove of biotic power, and he willingly let it carry him away. He still had that amused expression on his face, that damned unique expression turians had when they found something funny. It infuriated her to no end.

She stood from her lounge and stalked over to him, still laying on the floor where he landed with that damned smirk. He had won, she had lost. Aria never lost. Suddenly one of her guards stepped forwards and said, "There's been a development."

-=ME:E=-

"What in the world are we listening to?"

Music carried softly thought the cockpit speakers; a rhythm of soft beats, almost like the striking of bamboo tubes, buoyed by Gregorian chant. Joker looked back at Manunta as if caught with something embarrassing, but went on to say, "It's from an anime soundtrack, I'm a bit of a fan."

She tapped at her datapad a few times while working at one of the wall displays and said, "You mean those 2D animations made in Japan?"

"Yeah, this one's kind of old, you kno – hold on, we're picking up a vessel on sensors, just entered the station's range. Notify the Captain."

-=ME:E=-

More unguarded communications, it seemed organics had a tendency to be careless.

A voice, deep and rough by human standards,"I want Shepard alive, kill anyone else. Oh, if you see Massani I want him alive, too. Tarak had mentioned he was around."

Another voice, rather bland and generic, "Of course, Mr. Santiago."

"How much longer?"

"Another ten minutes until we reach the western courtyard on level forty-six. We'll spread out from there if we can't find him."

"Good, contact me when the operation is complete, Santiago out."

It appeared that the fruitless wandering of Omega's shadows had come to an end, calling their ship, they could not stop themselves from audibly uttering, "Shepard-Commander."

-=ME:E=-

The moment she had identified the approaching cruiser as a Blue Suns ship EDI had attempted to contact Shepard. The signal would not go through and she could only watch the incoming sensor telemetry uselessly. She hated being useless.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard stepped forward, motioning Sidonis and Jonn back, and he took up a defensive stance. Garm laughed and approached him, saying, "My armor could use a new coat of paint."

He wreathed himself in biotics, ready for any attack, and Garm followed suit as Shepard said, "I don't care if I'm in the way, take a shot when you see it."

While he was sure the krogan wasn't going to be as strong as Harbinger, he was also sure that the alien would employ technique and tricks. It was going to be a tough fight.

Standing there, watching his enemy, Shepard felt no breeze to prompt him into action and instead attempted to predict the krogan's style. Would he flow his moves into one another, relying on his greater mass and momentum to cause damage and apply pressure? Or would it be quick, powerful attacks that were difficult to predict and avoid? At some unseen signal Garm charged and Shepard prepared to toss him using that momentum. Garm grinned.

A memory emerged from his mind with a charge and a roar, an image of a massive krogan in crimson armor, Urdnot Wrex. He would be the one thrown instead. Wrex sneered, a growl, "You humans are too easy to predict, choosing paths of least resistance. Choose the hard, the tough, and you yourself shall prove to be stronger in the end."

Garm's grin grew as Shepard caught his arm and twisted it over his shoulder, as if preparing to toss him, and planting his feet. The grin slipped and a quizzical expression cracked as Shepard absorbed some momentum before launching his shoulder into the arm while dragging the hand down. With a sickening snap and pop, the krogan's arm broke and the alien let out a roar of pain. He rolled, allowing himself to be tossed by the excess force and stood, ready for the next attack. Garm's roar turned to laughter and excitement filled his eyes as he said, "At first, I merely thirsted for your blood, but now I have a fight, a fight to enjoy! A true battle!"

Shepard ignored his opponent's jeering and instead tried to predict his next move, the shot pinging off of Garm's armor only distracting him slightly. Both of the combatants stepped forward, the krogan taking a swing with his functional arm, and Shepard weaved around it. For a brief moment he had a choice, attack the weak side and definitely score a painful hit or land a blow on the strong side. Biotics assisting the attack, Shepard drove his fist into the strong side of Garm's ribs and shattered the ceramic armor plates there. A heavy krogan foot pushed him away, winding him, and he reaffirmed his guard while circling the wounded beast.

Blows were exchanged in this fashion for a few minutes, Shepard outmaneuvering and battering Garm while several sniper shots landed in non-vital areas. The lumbering alien was exhausted and bleeding, and for just one second Shepard let his guard slip. Garm leaped at him, a fist cocked to drive him into the metal plating below. He could have dodged and potentially left his side open yet avoiding the devastating attack, but Wrex's words came back to him and he balanced himself. Catching the fist was the easy part, it was supporting the tonne of krogan and absorbing the shock of the blow that was hard. He could feel warmth bloom in his limbs as the cybernetics worked and a pleasant, almost euphoric feeling flow down his spine as his biotics were stressed.

-=ME:E=-

Jonn was in awe of the battle taking place in front of him and the superhuman feats Shepard displayed, especially so when the krogan leaped at him and the marine barely shifted. The impact shook the floor so violently that he stumbled backwards, but then he saw it: the shot. It was merely a matter of squeezing the trigger and watching Garm's head, below his crest, explode in a shower of orange gore. The glow suffusing Shepard's body vanished and the marine allowed himself to be pushed away from the falling corpse. The final exchange had taken less than a minute, but the adrenaline pounding in his veins skewed his perception.

Jonn fell from the recoil and couldn't help grumbling to himself, "Way to save the day only to fall on your ass, Jonn."

Sidonis helped him to his feet, saying, "Don't worry about it, that was a good shot. Worth falling on your ass."

-=ME:E=-

Shepard-Commander had not been in the western square, but their sensors had detected mass effect fluctuations in the eastern square. They raced to their target , the Blue Suns searched the closer northern and southern squares, yet still presented a threat. The eastern square was coming within visual range and they maintained their swift pace.

-=ME:E=-

The shuttle had been left several blocks back and Garrus had set out on foot with Kaidan and Mordin on his heels to cover the remaining distance. If his team was under attack they would come out through the back, near the eastern square, if Shepard had managed to get them out. Shortly after their trek had begun mass effect fluctuations were detected in the eastern square by Garrus's eyepiece and he urged the group to make haste. Reports from the Normandy on the Blue Suns shuttles searching the nearby squares made him uneasy and only served to fuel his running further.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard took a moment to assess his condition, the ache in his limbs seemed superficial and the dull throbbing of scars covering his body was quickly dying down. He felt hot, an uncomfortable heat spreading through his body and the odd pleasure he felt from his biotics had devolved into a headache. Blood threatened to run from his nose and he sniffed to keep it contained; nothing within the memories he could explore explained this reaction. Never had his body reacted to biotics as it was at that moment, it was strange and worrying.

EDI's cool voice, broken with interference, interrupted his recovery and said, "Shepard," A crackle drowned out the next few words, "... incoming. I suggest," More static garbled the rest of her transmission before it cut out.

He didn't bother trying to respond, it seemed that the rather standard communications facilities aboard the Progress Runner couldn't handle either the distance or environment he was in. From what little he could understand it sounded like something was coming and they should high-tail it out of there. Nearby, Sidonis and Jonn stood over the corpse of Erash, the former slumped in defeat and the latter neutral, almost dazed. He walked over to the two of them and said, "We should probably get out of here, I've just gotten word that something's coming our way."

Jonn turned first, saying, "'Something?'"

He shrugged and said, "The message wasn't too clear."

Sidonis stepped away from the body and said, "You have a ship?"

With a nod Shepard said, "On the upper levels. I don't know my way around well enough, you care to lead?"

The turian nodded heavily, walking towards the dark underbelly of an overpass, and said, "Yeah, there's an elevator over this way."

As the sentence came to an end the whine of shuttle engines quickly grew and the group turned to see two blue shuttles with a mantis gunship leading them heading straight for the courtyard. Before their walk could turn to a jog the gunship was upon them, auto-cannons firing in suppressive bursts. Shepard ducked behind one of empty planters while Sidonis and Jonn ducked next to another. Across the courtyard mercenaries could be seen pouring out of the shuttles and barked orders dimly heard over the intermittent bursts of fire. They were pinned.

The gunship flew overhead and the suppressive paused only long enough to be replaced by fire from the mercenaries. The three of them carefully returned fire, picking the less cautious off from the throngs of blue attacking them. The gunship made another pass and as it did Shepard noticed something curious about the entire fight, none of the fire was focused on himself. Deducing the Suns's probable motivations in the battle, he realized that to the mercenaries his two companions were expendable. He began taking riskier maneuvers against them following this epiphany and drastically cut into their numbers.

Fire began to rain from a building overlooking the courtyard and he cursed his luck for barely a second before dying mercenaries reversed his assumption. Shepard couldn't make out any figures in the windows and the fire stopped as the gunship made another pass, turning the walls into swiss cheese. Their unknown guardians resumed their assistance after that brief delay and Shepard could see an opportunity forming. He ushered Jonn and Sidonis ahead of him towards the building, and some progress was made between passes of the gunship. In the distance a third and fourth shuttle could be seen approaching and the feeling that they moved too slowly was amplified within him.

With difficulty due to exhaustion, Shepard formed a barrier with his biotics and began running towards the building while ushering Jonn and Sidonis with him. He paid no mind to the fire meeting his barrier from the mercenaries, the pleasant feeling of his biotics now completely replaced with a migraine and blood trickled from his nose at the stress. The whine of the gunship grew again and he chanced a glance behind himself at the approaching aircraft. The pilot of the craft must have come to an odd decision in how to prevent them from escaping as they launched a rocket ahead of them. The other two looked over at the noise and tried to halt their sprint in order to dive out of the way, but Shepard came to an odd decision of his own.

With a heave of his biotics he threw Jonn and Sidonis through the doors of the building and out of the missile's path, diving to the side to spare himself its wrath as well. He rolled a few feet as he landed and the force of the explosion rolled over him, leaving him flat on his back. As he watched the gunship fly overhead, a trio of energy pulse beams cut through the vehicle and demolished its cockpit. Images of Jenkin's corpse, holes burned clean through his chest, flashed through his mind. Disoriented from the strain of battle and the force of the missile explosion, Shepard could hardly focus his already jumbled memories much less the possibility of Geth on Omega.

A larger explosion in the background lit up the square, but Shepard paid it little mind. He was busy struggling weakly against the half-dozen Blue Suns trying to detain him. Gunfire continued as he fought. The remainder of the encounter passed in a blur as his armor and weapons were roughly removed from him, a cold metal collar clipped around his neck. A spur at the back of the collar dug into his flesh and he suddenly felt disconnected from his body, as though he had lost some function of control. As he was dragged into a shuttle he realized with horror that the odd feeling he was experiencing was a block on his biotics. The helpless sensation persisted even as he blacked out.

-=ME:E=-

Garrus had immediately flown down the stairs when the trio made their dash to the building, Kaidan and Mordin hot on his heels. The sounds of gunfire and an explosion continued outside, but he had faith that they would make it into the building. As he rounded the last landing and leaped to the ground floor, it was immediately apparent that his faith was only moderately well placed. Sidonis lay near the doors, much of his armor covered in scorch marks and his blue blood gathered in a small pool. A young human male was getting to his feet nearby and in the distance Shepard could be seen in a melee of blue armor.

For a second Garrus was torn between going to Sidonis or assisting Shepard, but he came to a decision in just as much time. Pointing to the fallen turian he said, "Professor Solus, tend to him."

He dashed out the door and to the nearest cover, firing controlled bursts from his assault rifle at the group of mercenaries. The other weapons added their report with his, but it seemed there were too many Blue Suns to choose any pertinent targets. Sizable dents were made in their numbers until the third and fourth shuttles arrived and the volume of fire was then so overwhelming that he was forced to remain under cover when his shields collapsed and a couple of rounds cut into his right cheek and mandible. He looked to Kaidan who bore an understanding yet urging look, and said, "Call the shuttle to the back, we need to retreat."

The marine nodded and began to work with his omni-tool while the other human gave him a rebellious look and said, "We're going to run? We can't just let them take Shepard!"

He had to agree with the boy, but at the same time he knew they couldn't win the current fight without incurring any further losses of their own. Kaidan spoke up from his omni-tool, saying, "For now, we have to. We'll get him back."

Feeling more confident in this decision, Garrus lead the others back to Mordin and Sidonis at a crouch to avoid the mercenaries' fire. The salarian looked up at his approach and said, "He is stable, ready to move. Be gentle."

Garrus nodded to Kaidan and the marine gently lifted Sidonis with his biotics before the group made their way out the back entrance, a shuttle waiting for them. As they climbed into the vehicle, Joker's voice came on over the speaker.

"Captain, the enemy vessel is preparing to leave the system, your orders?"

Garrus thought for a moment about the Normandy's armaments, and across from him Kaidan said, "Our guns are too powerful to disable even a frigate, even a large one. A cruiser or carrier, maybe..."

Leaning back in his seat as the shuttle carried them to the Normandy, Garrus said, "Make sure we know where they're going."

Joker sounded a little put-out as he said, "Aye, Captain."

As the channel closed, Garrus finally took the time to look over the young human sitting next to Kaidan; he had a strong build, what humans called a "soul patch" and closely cropped hair. He looked a bit older than the old holo Garrus saw in the briefings Kaidan had arranged, but he was definitely Jonn Whitson. He looked anxious, his knee shaking and his eyes often glancing out the window. Any questions he might have had for the young man were forced to wait when Joker's voice spoke up again with alarm, "Captain, a small geth vessel just appeared on our sensors and jumped after the Blue Suns!"

Garrus sat up with alarm of his own and asked the shuttle in general, "How would they even know he was alive?"

Kaidan said, "Alliance Intelligence has long suspected that they monitor transmissions made by the organic races and even plant false information. Considering how powerful they are when it comes to meddling with tech, I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to listen in on our reports to the Council."

While the thought was unsettling, something Kaidan mentioned had him curious, and he said, "False information?"

"Someone had falsified a report saying that the image of a salarian goddess was visible in the stars from a batarian planet. An interested salarian group bought the planet in an auction and found that the claim was false."

Mordin spoke from his corner with interest, saying, "Had heard about the incident, terrible waste of resources. Accusations that batarians fabricated report, as I recall."

Kaidan nodded, saying, "It could never be proven either way, but that's just one example that Intelligence believes the geth responsible for. Most of them are benign, but then there are those like the salarian goddess that make you wonder."

Jonn continued to watch the spires of Omega speed by as he said, "Makes you wonder why they haven't made larger strides to kill us all with that kind of capability."

Garrus wondered the same thing himself but the young human suddenly sat up as a familiar, docked freighter passed by the window. Jonn turned to them, as if asking if they saw it as well, and Garrus said, "Joker, have you found the Progress Runner, yet?"

With a sheepish chuckle Joker said, "I nearly forgot with all the commotion, but we've located it docked a few levels down from your present location."

Looking to Kaidan, Garrus said, "Thanks Joker. Kaidan?"

Going to his omni-tool again, he said, "Gotcha, Captain, one moment."

The shuttle made a sweeping u-turn and descended to a nearby landing pad before the door slid open, Jonn hopping out and setting off at a brisk pace towards the docks. Garrus and the others held back and he said, "How's he doing, Professor Solus?"

Mordin worked with his own omni-tool for a moment before he said, "Stable, minor concussion and moderate burns to face," The mentioned burns were covered in a translucent gel, "applied medigel to prevent infection, reduce swelling. Will require further attention, but will survive without further degeneration should we delay."

Garrus still felt uneasy about stepping away from Sidonis to follow Jonn, and Kaidan must have noticed, because he said, "I'll stay with him, Captain."

Guilt somewhat assuaged, Garrus hopped out of the shuttle, Mordin following close behind. The Progress Runner was visible through the transparent walls lining the docking bay, and the two of them quickly found Jonn just as he was entering an access code at the docking bay doors.

-=ME:E=-

Worried about what the Blue Suns swift departure could mean, EDI had attempted to contact Shepard hundreds of times in the minutes that passed. As she prepared to make another attempt something curious happened: the docking bay doors opened with the proper access codes. Immediately accessing the proper camera EDI found a human, turian, and Mordin Solus walking into the compression chamber. Unsure and still preoccupied with thoughts of Shepard, she locked the chamber down before accessing ship communications. Watching the three aliens as they looked about the chamber in confusion she said, "Identify yourselves."

Audio from the room came in, the turian looked to the human and said, "Who was that?"

Mordin was muttering to himself about the various nuances of her voice behind the other two, and the human said, "I don't know, it doesn't sound like Jean or anyone else I know."

Few records of the name Jean were stored within her memory banks, could the human be the missing Whitson that Shepard was seeking?

The salarian stepped forward and said, "Might I postulate a theory? Judging by the various qualities of her voice I would say that we are dealing with a VI, possibly even an AI."

The turian jerked back slightly in surprise, muttering, "An AI?"

The human, who EDI was growing more sure was indeed Jonn Whitson, perked up and said, "When we were helping out Archangel, Shepard was talking with someone on his radio. When I asked about it he said he was talking with an AI hooked up to this ship. He also called, er her, a friend."

Now sure of the human's identity, EDI said, "Mr. Whitson is correct, I am an artificial intelligence and my name is EDI. I apologize for locking you within that chamber, but I have been unable to contact the Commander for almost twelve minutes. I am afraid that for the same reasons you may distrust me, I cannot easily trust you."

The salarian tapped his chin thoughtfully and said, "I find it surprising that a human would trust an AI, considering much of their fiction depicts AI as calculating killers." He paused as if in remembrance, "Ah, I am Professor Mordin Solus."

"I remember you from Shepard's visit, Professor. I must admit that I was surprised at how easily the Commander put his trust in me after we escaped Cerberus. His fair treatment of me has inspired great respect and worry over his well being."

The turian chuckled and said, "Sounds like when I first met him, humans and turians still don't get along all that well. I'm Garrus Vakarian. Speaking of surprises, Tali didn't mention you when I asked her about Freedom's Progress."

A score of possible explanations were considered in a handful of seconds before EDI said, "I must confess I can not fathom any reason why I would be left out of the equation."

Jonn Whitson looked up at the camera with something she estimated to be hope and said, "All of this reminiscing is great and all, but I'd like to come on board. I heard some news about the colony, and I, well..."

The young man trailed off, his expression falling as he realized the truth, but EDI's nature would not allow the situation to pass without some reply. Making appropriate pauses and softening her inflection, she said, "Your father and sister saved Shepard and myself when our vessel was sent adrift. The following morning we found the colony empty, your family gone as well."

She paused, wondering to herself if she should leave it at that, such an oddly clinical response. Jonn's face had fallen from the camera and Garrus laid his hand on the young human's shoulder. Why did this simple reaction cause her so much distress? Applying as much detail into the tone and pitch of her voice as she could, she said, "I am sorry."

-=ME:E=-

At first all Shepard knew was cold metal on his back and muffled voices, but gradually it expanded to blurry figures, pins and needles in his limbs, and muffled voices. It felt like he was coming off of a heavy anesthetic. As the voices grew more distinct he could hear a man say, "Looks like he's waking up, Warden."

A voice, warbling in the way all turian voices do, said, "Oh good. I think you'll be happy to know, Shepard," At this point a soil-brown turian with gold eyes in Blue Suns armor stepped into focus, speaking to him, "that you are the _second_ prisoner aboard the Purgatory deemed _dangerous_ enough for the cryogenic unit."

He froze in his groggy stirrings as the finals words left the Warden's beak, why the hell was he aboard a prison ship? The turian in front of him chuckled and said, "Don't worry too much, you're only on board until a proper buyer can be found. Oh, and you'll even have a cell mate, too! Won't that be _wonderful?_"

Behind the turian who loved to hear himself talk, he could see a large mechanical arm slowly pulling a tube of frosted metal out of the cryo-unit. Imagining the type of horrible criminal he could be sharing a cell with, Shepard was surprised as the mist cleared to reveal a woman a head shorter than him and covered in tattoos. She looked a handful of years younger than himself and her head was shaved. She started to stir as he had, but before she became aware of the change in her imprisonment a collar similar to his own was clamped over her neck. Her eyes shot open as she came to the realization he did when his own collar was applied and a hoarse voice let out a loud stream of vulgar curses. Had he been a green recruit still, Shepard might have blushed at some of them.

The Warden snorted next to him and said, "Imaginative, isn't she?"

With a wave of the turian's talons the rack he was strapped to was lifted by the large arm and shortly brought to the tube. A second's pause passed before the rack was slotted into the tube, mechanical clamps locking it into place. The woman snapped out of her tirade as she realized that he was detained facing her and said, "Don't get any funny ideas, cocksucker."

Shepard raised his eyebrows at her and asked the cliched question, "What are you in for?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "For being the galaxy's biggest bitch, you?"

He shrugged as best he could in the restraints and said, "I honestly don't know, I feel like half my mind is missing sometimes. It could have something to do with taking out three mercenary chapters in almost as many minutes, though."

"Bullshit."

"I don't see anyone of the bovine persuasion around here..."

She snorted at his poor joke and said nothing as the Warden walked up to the two of them, saying, "I'm glad to see you're getting along, it wouldn't do to have your bunk mate try to murder you in your sleep, and I do hope you _sleep well_."

As the haughty turian walked off the tube began to lower into the cryo-unit and the woman said, "Bastard loves to hear himself talk."

Shepard suppressed a shiver at the cold creeping up his body and said, "You noticed that too? I thought it was just me."

As the tube settled into the cryo-unit all vestiges of light vanished and a brief, sharp pain bloomed from the spur on the back of his neck before the odd hum of his cell faded.

-=ME:E=-


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Well, it's certainly been a while since I've updated. If you're curious as to the reasons: College, Finals, Life in General, and... a healthy dose of Procrastination.

I've actually had this chapter done for a few months, silly eh?

-=ME:E=-

As Shepard came to he could feel the bitter cold permeating all of his being but could see only darkness. For a brief moment he imagined himself floating in the void of space again before a quiet groan sounded across from him and he remembered the real world. How long had he been in cryo with the rather profane woman situated across from him? The tube containing the pair of restraining racks began to rise and he had to slam his eyelids shut as the first cracks of light assaulted them. Across from him, the tattooed woman hissed and said, "Mother fuck, that's bright."

The Warden's warbling voice carried over the moderately-loud machinery, but with a hollow distortion reminiscent of a PA system. He said, "Rise and shine, inmates! Your ten minutes of required physical exercise start now."

The two racks swung apart from each other as the tube finished its ascent and the restraints covering Shepard's body loosened. A surprisingly thick layer of frost barely kept them secured and he shrugged his way out of the rack and took a few steps as he tried to clear the fog of his long sleep. To his side he could hear his cellmate struggle with her restraints for a moment before she too staggered away from the cryo-unit. The sounds of a struggle continued until with a grunt of rage the tattooed woman stomped the ground and shouted, "Fuck this collar!"

Rubbing his left eye, it felt a little heavier in the lids than his right, he glanced over at her. Many of the wiry muscles in her torso and most in her arms were flexing weakly against the collar as she tried to pry it apart. He could identify a handful of prison tattoos on the tapestry that was her skin, but the remainder were a mystery to him. She quickly noticed his attention and spat, "What the fuck are you looking at?"

Ignoring her, Shepard began some basic stretches and surveyed the room. On a catwalk behind them two guards with assault rifles patrolled and in front of them a trio of YMIR heavy mechs sat, deactivated, at the bottom of a ramp. Above the mechs he could see a control room of sorts with moderately mirrored windows, which made discerning the interior difficult. Perhaps the younger woman was telling the truth concerning her internment, the security seemed extremely tight.

"Pay attention to me when I'm talking to you, dipshit!"

A smallish fist collided with his jaw and shifted his balance a little before the same fist returned to the same spot and forced him to stumble back. One of guards above jeered something incomprehensible. He recovered himself in time to catch her next strike and, using his superior strength, he flipped her onto the deck grating roughly. Positioned above her head, Shepard simply grabbed the bulky collar and pressed it against the floor. The tattooed woman cursed and struggled to gain leverage over him, but he refused to give any ground and only pressed down harder. She attempted to grab him around the neck with her legs, but he easily pushed them away. As she realized the futility of the struggle he could even feel the material of the collar give a little under the pressure. Another on-the-fly plan was beginning to form in his mind and he looked the shorter woman in the eye while saying, "Are you done?"

For a moment it seemed she wished to spit on him, but the rather dry feeling of his own mouth probably applied to hers as well. She settled for crossing her arms, turning her head away with chin jutting out, and saying, "Yeah, we're done, _mom_."

Smirking a little, Shepard quietly replied, "Good, now listen well: I don't plan on staying here much longer," the tattooed woman snorted at this, "however, it would go much more smoothly if I had a little backup."

She narrowed her eyes at him and hissed, "I prefer to go it alone."

He quirked an eyebrow, saying, "So you'd prefer to spend the rest of your days in cryo?"

"Hell no! But I won't follow some cocky new motherfucker 'cause he asks nicely. Let go!" She renewed her struggle with a stream of muttered curses.

After glancing at the two inattentive guards Shepard pressed on the collar hard enough that the materials composing it groaned audibly and he said, "Trust me, and I'll get you off this ship."

She covered her surprise at the collar's complaint by slitting her eyes and glancing between Shepard and the object before she said, "You better be straight up with me."

Shepard nodded, released her, and exhaled internally, it seemed more and more that he was flying by the seat of his pants. Convincing the small, angry woman had been a pure gamble and he was grateful the guards seemed so confident in their collars, otherwise the two of them may have required more discretion. Even as he thought this he could see the two guards, a human and a turian, making their way down to their level. At the base of the ramp, one of the heavy mechs activated and began unfolding itself. The warden's voice warbled officiously from the PA system, "Your ten minutes of mandatory exercise are now up! Your guards will escort you back to your cells."

The tattooed woman was rubbing a sore spot on her head nearby and said, "Jack."

Shepard glanced at her and with a cocked eyebrow asked, "Who?"

As the human guard waved her along with his rifle she rolled her eyes and said, "It's my name, dumbass."

The turian did the same with him and he said, "No surname?"

"A what?"

It was Shepard's turn to roll his eyes as he said, "A second name, most people have two, like John Shepard."

She glared at the guard balefully as the restraints automatically clamped over her body and she said, "Who?"

Nearly ignoring his own guard as he settled into the rack, with a grin he said, "It's my name, dumbass."

The two racks swung together in short order before the tube began lowering into the cryo unit again. As the cold crept up his body for the second time he considered his most recent impromptu plans and the concerning regularity in which he was forced to devise them. Everything since his awakening aboard that hellish station had been so disorganized and rushed. It didn't help that he was still missing pieces of his life leading up to the cold nightmare of his death. He fought a shiver from the memory and from the cold of his prison and managed to contain it in time for the sting of the collar to effect him.

-=ME:E=-

Ninety-nine.

It had been a few days since command had been transferred, and Jacob was still unsure of his ability to correctly guide the crew of the Thermopylae and fulfill the Illusive Man's orders. Sure, he had a command on the Lazarus project, something he had to adjust to as well, and he had plenty of experience leading squads from his time in the Alliance, but commanding a ship was a whole new game for him. After picking up the bounty hunter, Zaeed Masssani, he had settled into regular ship operations, there was little paperwork to go through in certain Cerberus operations. No big decisions had presented themselves yet.

One hundred and three. The burn was getting intense at this point, but for Jacob the burn only gave him more drive to focus, to think. He had been more than leery when he had received orders to pick up the mercenary, but the man's reputation as a dependable gun spoke for itself. Being stable, strong, and dependable were things that Jacob pushed himself to be. If the bounty hunter proved himself to be these things, to live up to that reputation, then he could work with him at least. Trust would be hard to give when the man's gun was only at his side because of Cerberus's money.

With a final heave he finished the last repetition of his weighted leg lifts and began removing the straps from his legs. The Illusive Man's latest orders were a bit of a mystery to him: rendezvous with the Blue Suns' prison ship, Purgatory, and attend a prisoner auction. The prisoner of interest was an escaped Cerberus experiment named Subject Zero. Jacob had never taken much interest in the various research cells the shady organization had, the few he heard about only filled him with disgust. Miranda would probably know the details, but he was wary of encroaching on her at all since the shift in command. Her demeanor had been laced with an extra rime of frost, but like a professional she continued to do her job more than adequately.

Her recent, chilled replies of "Understood, Captain" or "Yes, Mister Taylor" chafed him when he was so used to just plain "Jacob."

Just as he was about to stand and make his way to the showers, ED's monotone voice abruptly sounded from the room's comm system, "Operative Taylor, I have been asked by Operative Lawson to inform you that we are now nineteen minutes and twenty-six seconds from our rendezvous with the Purgatory."

A trickle of sweat slipping down his face prompted him to grab his towel and wipe it off as he said, "Thank you, ED – let her know I'll be up there soon."

-=ME:E=-

Garrus, seated at one of the tables in the common room in the crew deck, glanced over at the young human, Jonn Whitson, who was sulking at his end of the table. On either side of him sat Doctor Chakwas and Kaidan; Mordin and Joker sat to Garrus's sides. The gray box containing EDI rested at the center of the table, a small wireless networking inhibitor securely connected to one of her various ports. Kaidan sent him a questing look and he rapped his talons on the table before a thin object was slid across the table to him. He barely suppressed a pleased tilt of his mandibles before he glanced over again and said, "How's the patient, Doctor?"

The deaths of his squad and Sidonis's injuries weighed heavily upon him - could they have been saved had he stayed? It didn't feel as if he had truly processed it yet, with Shepard's capture, the Collector attacks, a mysterious AI, and the young human across from him occupying his thoughts. The doctor rapped her knuckles against the table as well, but seemed dissatisfied with the object slid across to her. Joker shook his head with an amused smile as she leaned back in her chair with a sigh and said, "I've kept him asleep and the treatment of his burns is complete, Professor Solus was more than helpful. We'll have to see about taking him to a dermal regenerator at one of the Presidium hospitals for the scars."

Garrus nodded gratefully to both the salarian and human before returning his attention to Whitson. He gently clicked his talons against the table's surface as he contemplated the youth across from him. Kaidan looked to Mordin, who nodded and then thoughtfully frowned, his eyes constantly darting around the table. Joker shook his head as he was looked to in turn and smirked victoriously at Garrus. The turian merely snorted quietly at the pilot before turning his attention to the silent, one-sided exchange Kaidan was having with the Whitson boy. At first the marine tried pointedly glancing at the young human, then he attempted a subtle gesture with his hands, but realizing that Jonn was dead to the world, he settled for clearing his throat. Garrus could see his ears perk, indicating he heard it, but the problem was that he wasn't listening. Still unsure about the human in general, much less how to address him, Garrus settled for clearly saying, "Whitson."

A head of cropped hair snapped up to meet his gaze for a moment before Kaidan's motions caught his eye. He nodded and eyed the object slid to him dubiously before he leaned back in is seat with a frustrated huff. Once the situation had brought him out of his reverie it seemed he was no longer content with just sulking, he fixed Garrus with a determined stare and said, "I'm going with you."

Kaidan just sighed and flipped an object for himself as Garrus said, "Nope."

Whitson crossed his arms petulantly and said, "Why?"

Garrus raised a hand to stall Kaidan, who had looked ready to comment, and said, "Emotionally unstable."

"I'm not the only one dealing with loss right now."

Garrus flicked one mandible, it stung a bit where the shots from earlier had struck it, he had to give the kid that one, and rebutted, "Inexperienced."

Jonn hesitated a moment before he returned, "You saw Garm's body when they took Shepard – that hole in his head? Courtesy of yours truly."

While it was an impressive claim, and the charisma leaking into the boy's voice almost made it believable, Garrus had caught the moment of hesitation. He stopped himself from calling Whitson out on it though, Garm would have been a challenge even for Shepard. He continued to meet the young man's gaze with his own, the one that had many humans comparing turians to Earth birds of prey. He searched the emerald chips for the wildness and ferocity that came from rage born of grief, but instead all he found was collected coolness. It was no guarantee that he would be ready for the chaos of combat, but it inspired some confidence in Garrus. Chakwas, out of some sense of discomfort at all of the quiet staring, said, "It's not like they're heading into combat, Mr. Whitson. It's only a prisoner auction after all."

Silence reigned at the table for a few moments after this was said as they all took stock of their armored and armed persons until she continued, "Oh, who am I kidding."

Joker chuckled at her slumped form as Kaidan said, "While it's true we'll be going as Council representatives to secure Shepard in the auction, it occurred to me earlier that he won't be expecting a rescue. He's also resourceful enough to attempt escape when the opportunity presents itself."

The thought had crossed Garrus's mind a few times as they journeyed to the rendezvous with the Purgatory and he found himself concurring with Kaidan. With a nod to the marine he said, "My thoughts exactly, our primary plan of action should be to link up with him and evac when he makes his move, if he hasn't already. If he doesn't during the auction, then we've been authorized to use a hefty amount of funds to secure his release from both the Council and the Alliance."

He paused to point at Jonn and said, "You can come with us, but if fighting does break out, I want you on rearguard. I'll be on point while Commander Alenko and Professor Solus stick between us and work their magic."

Garrus rapped his talons on the table again, Kaidan slid something across the table to him with a biotic push and an exaggerated waggle of his fingers. The Captain chuckled and asked, "Joker, how long until we meet up with the Purgatory?"

The pilot sat up sheepishly and stuttered, "O-oh, right, I should be up there right now. Another hour maybe."

As Kaidan's "magic" slid across the table, Garrus's eye lit upon EDI's, well – EDI. What's the harm in one more, he thought, Shepard's trust was almost always well placed. With a flick of his wrist and a couple taps of his omni-tool he had disabled the wireless inhibitor and allowed EDI into communications at least. Before he had a chance to say anything, EDI's voice came in through the overhead speakers in a dull, flat monotone, "Do you have any idea how depressing it is to stay locked up like that?"

Joker snorted and mumbled, "OK, Marvin..."

EDI's voice lost her dreary feeling as genuine curiosity leaked through and she asked, "Who's Marvin?"

"Later," Garrus cut any further conversation off and said, "I'm not going to give you free run of the Normandy's systems, EDI, but you can poke around a bit. Shepard trusted you, so I'll extend the same courtesy on his behalf. I'm going to leave Lieutenant -"

A familiar voice broke through the communications system, interrupting him, "Manunta to Captain Vakarian."

Garrus sighed and said, "Vakarian here."

The Lieutenant continued her report, "Captain, an unidentified network is interfacing with our own. It's slippery, but so far it's only kept to surface systems -"

Garrus caught himself about to imitate a human gesture, his talons an inch from pinching the ridged bridge of his nose. That would smart a bit if he actually managed it. Off to the side Joker was obviously restraining himself from making a smart comment while Kaidan looked to him with an unsure frown on his face. He fixed the pilot with a glare as he said, "I'm aware: it's the AI we picked up. I've decided to let it – her roam a bit, and before you ask, I am sure of my decision. Keep an eye on her."

"Aye aye, Captain."

There was a beat of silence before EDI quietly said, "Thank you, Captain Vakarian."

"Ok, not Marvin then," Joker mumbled quietly before he cleared his throat and said, "Anyways, mind if we finish this game before I head up to the cockpit?"

Garrus glanced down at the card Kaidan had "magicked" over to him and chuckled, saying, "Blackjack."

Joker howled in indignation, "Again? I swear I'll beat you one day, you – you scaly space chicken!"

With that the pilot stormed off towards the elevator and Garrus muttered, "Space chicken?"

Off to the side, Kaidan said, "You've probably heard humans compare turians to birds, chickens are a bird species on Earth."

Mordin slid his cards back towards the marine as he said, "Tried it a couple times, can be dry and tasteless, but with proper preparation it is quite delectable."

Garrus couldn't help the twitch of his brow plates that followed the Professor's description, "Delectable?"

-=ME:E=-

Jacob prevented himself from fiddling with the collar of the dress uniform he wore over his customary jumpsuit for the umpteenth time as the pre-auction dinner party came to a close. He hadn't touched any of the food, didn't trust it. The Warden seemed shifty, perhaps the turians had it right when they called deceivers bare-faced. Kurill wore no face paint and the exaggerated way in which he talked left Jacob feeling uncomfortable. Who held a dinner party on board a prison ship shortly before selling some of the prisoners anyways? Perhaps the turian harbored illusions about the prestige of his position.

Beside him, in her own dress uniform, Miranda was saying farewell to a pair of turian delegates with all of the sweetness and charm she could muster. Beneath it all he knew she was still silently stewing over the events of the past week, she clenched her jaw just enough for the muscle to shift visibly when she thought no one was looking. Had she been in a better mood he may have even jokingly suggested she wear a little black number and accompany him on his arm. Maybe only half-jokingly. He feigned interest in the departing turians as he said his own farewells and acted just as gracious and charming as his partner. Or at least he tried to.

It's not that the conversation with the two of them was boring, it was actually quite interesting that the Hierarchy refused to have their prisoners interred with third-party organizations. Apparently they preferred to dish out the credits to obtain the prisoners rather than let the Blue Suns release them on Palaven, or some other turian world, unannounced. The problem was that this whole affair, the dinner party and the tour of the ship beforehand, was just a waste of time waiting for the auction to begin. Waiting. Jacob hated waiting. It didn't help that the collar of the dress uniform he was wearing over his bodysuit kept chafing at his throat. He wasn't even representing Cerberus while he was present, just one of their front companies, but he was still the one in command. At least he was supposed to be: throughout the whole affair it was Miranda who had taken charge. He was never one for social events nor had he received any training for them, unlike Miranda. Their mercenary, Massani, avoided conversation completely and just skulked by the tables laden with food and drink, nervously fidgeting with a ridiculous pair of shades.

Rather than dwell on how the situation undermined his authority concerning Miranda, he turned his attention to the party arriving more than fashionably late. Garrus Vakarian and Kaidan Alenko had just entered the room with another Alliance marine and a rugged looking salarian, the four of them fully armed and armored. One of the "ushers," guards in heavy armor with assault rifles, was vainly trying to stop them. Curious, Jacob made his way across the room towards them and purposefully neglected to beckon Miranda. Stopping to confer with her about everything he did wouldn't help his already tremulous position with her, he had to seem in control. As he approached he could hear the guard stiffly, quietly requesting that the party relinquish their weapons.

Alenko looked to the guard sternly and said, "I believe the Captain already told you, a few times now, that isn't going to happen. Even if you brought your superior out here, the answer would still be no."

Vakarian made a shooing motion with one of his talons and the guard briskly strode off into the room in search of the Warden. Last Jacob saw, Kurill was busy entertaining guests and enjoying the sound of his own voice. As Alenko watched the guard wander off he noticed the Cerberus Operatives approaching his party. He nudged Vakarian and said something low enough that Jacob couldn't hear, but the turian quickly turned his attention to the two of them. Figuring that they already knew who Jacob and Miranda were just as he knew that Vakarian was a Spectre he skipped the introductions and merely asked, "Vakarian, Alenko, what brings the two of you upstanding citizens out to such a shady gathering?"

Vakarian glanced between the two of them, as if unsure, and Alenko tersely said, "If it involved either of you, Mr. Taylor, then I'm sure we'd have sought you out. As this is an auction I assumed it was obvious we were interested in what's on sale."

"One of them caught my eye, if you know what I mean," Vakarian waggled his brow plates in an approximation of the human gesture and winked at Jacob before he continued, "And what of you two? What brings such outstanding pro-human _activists_ to a gathering with such _varied_ attendance?"

Jacob wanted to smile, the dry, sardonic manner in which the turian said pretty much everything made it all the more amusing. The various aliens at the gathering didn't bother Jacob and he felt no ill-will towards any of them, that kind of behavior lay with the more radical elements of Cerberus. Before the conversation could continue any farther, Warden Kurill finally decided to make his appearance, the guard from earlier at his heels. In an authoritative tone, he said, "I understand your reluctance to relinquish your weapons with so many dangerous prisoners on board, but you have my assurances of your safety – they are all well contained. I must request that you turn them over to my men for the duration of your visit, your weapons that is – they will be returned on your departure."

Vakarian shook his head sharply once and said, "Not happening."

The Warden immediately began trying to stare the other turian down, but between the two of them their intimidating gazes only bounced off one another. Jacob stepped forward before the staring contest got the Spectre thrown out, he was curious about Vakarian's presence. Thinking quickly, Jacob noticed a pair of asari in the background and said, "Warden Kurill, I hope you don't mind if I say something on the level: most, if not all, guests here are armed in one fashion or another."

He paused to draw the pistol he had hidden under the jacket of his dress uniform and held it up so that it was plain that the safety was on and no thermal clip was loaded. The Warden and his guard both stiffened visibly, the former attempting to pierce Jacob's skull with his eyes. He slipped the pistol back into its hiding place as he continued, "The fact that their weaponry is more visible may unsettle the other guests, but surely you have enough confidence in your security forces that it shouldn't be an issue."

The intensity of the Warden's gaze lessened and the turian's chest inflated a little before he said, "You make a good point, Mr. Taylor. My men are all well trained, more than ready to handle four armed guests, and I trust the Captain and his subordinates are here for something other than armed combat."

Another staring contest threatened to break out between the two turians and Jacob wondered how much longer the exchange would go on. An ethereal, computer-generated voice broke into the conversation from behind the salarian and marine, "This one begs your forgiveness, but for this one missing the auction would be a most unfavorable outcome. It would be greatly appreciated if you would kindly step to the side."

The small group parted to allow a lone hanar through, the tension seemingly broken, and Kurill clapped his talons together, "Excellent, now that all of our guests have arrived, I believe it is time to begin the auction."

-=ME:E=-

Zaeed loitered near the drinks and food, but none of it seemed particularly appetizing. It was rather standard fare compared to the few true banquets he'd attended before. There was no music, no dancing, and no classy women lounging about with which to dance with. The Lawson woman had a very off-putting attitude and he never could understand the fascination with Asari. He was edgy with so many Blue Suns about and he wondered briefly if Vido Santiago lurked somewhere on board, watching him safely from some dark control center. He fiddled with the dark shades obscuring his face as he glanced at an extremely obvious security camera in the corner. Part of him regretted coming along, because he endangered the mission with his presence, but the other half was itching to whip out the pistol hidden under his clothing and hunt Santiago down. If the bastard was even on board - the odds said no.

A smooth, tenor voice devoid of any emotion pulled him from his indirect scrutiny of the camera, stating, "You are Zaeed Massani."

Rather than whip around in shock, Zaeed slipped one hand inside of his jacket and turned enough so that the speaker could see his face and he could see them. The hand inside of his jacket was still hidden. The man standing before him had a slight, unassuming build and was dressed in a gray business suit. He held a briefcase in one hand as stiffly as his body seemed to be propped up. A pair of piercing gray eyes stared dispassionately out of a placid face, but Zaeed felt as though every molecule of his being was analyzed. To Zaeed, the man felt uncanny. Cautiously, he said, "Yeah, that's me."

"Your weapon will not be necessary," The man bent in a fluid motion to place the briefcase at Zaeed's feet before continuing, "Payment for services rendered."

Thinking back to his most recent job, not the disaster with Archangel, but a hit on some no-name batarian, he said, "I was already paid for that job."

"Vido Santiago is on board," The man, who was beginning to unnerve Zaeed, glanced at the case meaningfully and continued, "Good evening."

Drawn to the briefcase by the man's glance he sent a look of his own to it before looking up. The space before him was empty and Zaeed quickly searched the sparse crowd for any sign of the slight man. He could find none. Warily, as though he expected it to explode, he knelt in front of the gray case while his thoughts whirled about his most recent job. It had been passed to him through one of the regular agents, but no client had ever been mentioned, no background was offered. Zaeed had passed it off as the usual anonymity requested by skittish businessmen looking to eliminate their partners. In that moment however, the obscurity of the man and his mysterious presence made him question the mundane nature of the hit.

As he cracked the case enough to peer inside, he puzzled over the identity of his benefactor.

-=ME:E=-

Garrus patiently tapped his foot, or was it impatiently? He couldn't be bothered to decide which it was, but impatience had greater evidence in its favor. The file of mundane, yet dangerous, prisoners that passed through the room below their vantage was winding down and Garrus found himself tempted only once to make a joking bid on a turian prisoner. The Cerberus Operative, Taylor had looked at him then while his partner frowned, and he had winked at the humans. He let the Hierarchy representatives have the prisoner, as he had no true desire to house a convict aboard the Normandy. Off near the center of the observation deck's large window, Warden Kurill stood like a showman reading off the list of prisoners in an authoritative and theatrical manner. To his sides Jonn Whitson shook his leg anxiously and Kaidan dropped one of his feet to the ground so he could could raise the other across his knee. Mordin was seated at the end of the row quietly watching the proceedings.

Garrus tapped his foot again as several of the guests began to meander out, their business finished, and he glanced around at the remainder. The Cerberus duo and a mercenary remained across the room from him and the hanar from before silently watched the procession of prisoners. The floating pink alien had failed to make a bid on any of the prisoners, and Garrus worried that he might be after Shepard. He worried the same thing about Taylor and Lawson, but their presence was only partly unexpected. He considered tapping his foot again, but the Warden's voice, booming out to reach the remaining guests, recalled him from his thoughts.

"Gentlemen," He winked at Lawson, who watched him with contempt, "And Lady, the time has come for the main event of our humble auction. Below us is the cryostasis unit, a place reserved for only the most dangerous and vile of criminals. So dangerous they must remain isolated from the primary prison populace. Only two have earned such a distinction."

Out on the floor below a tube that had gone unnoticed before raised itself and expelled a billow of mist. Indistinct shapes could be seen stirring in the mist, and Garrus found himself curious as to who the other prisoner could be. The cloud finally cleared as a powerful figure strode out of it, quickly resolving into Shepard. A neural suppressive collar was clamped around his neck and he was garbed only in orange prison slacks. With the numerous scars covering him and the unkempt hair, Shepard fit the role he had been forced into, but Garrus would recognize him anywhere. A tiny figure stumbled out of the mist next to Shepard and he immediately recognized the infamous criminal known simply as Jack.

-=ME:E=-

Jacob was surprised that the mighty Subject Zero was the tiny woman below him, but even more surprising was the presence of John Shepard, Savior of the Citadel. Vakarian's presence finally made sense. The reborn Spectre's appearance was a problem, though. Jacob had taken the time to read up on some of the work that had gone into him, and he knew more than enough about modern security tech like the collar Shepard was fitted with.

At the front of the room Kurill continued with his theatrics, but Jacob ignored him and quietly said, "That collar won't hold him."

He could see Miranda, rigid as stone beside him, imperceptibly nod her head. She had completely ignored Subject Zero when Shepard had appeared, and Jacob knew she was seeing an opportunity down in that room. He didn't see it, in fact he could only see Shepard slipping away again and Subject Zero following in his wake.

-=ME:E=-

Shepard shook the fog from his head as the warbling voice of the Warden echoed around the room, he didn't bother listening. He hadn't dreamed in a while, but both times he awoke from cryostasis the memories he regained rushed into his mind as though he had lost them again. The same holes were still present as he probed around. He sighed dejectedly.

Down the ramp the three YMIR mechs sat, active and idle, while a squad of guards watched from the catwalks above. To his right, Jack stood eerily patient and calm, but he could feel her eyes glance to him expectantly. He could hear other voices now, bidders making their bids on him and his cellmate, but he could discern no forms through the reflective glass of the small control room. Glancing around at the security measures in place, Shepard promptly stretched, made a good show of raising his arms in the air and swiftly set his hands on the collar around his neck.

-=ME:E=-

When Garrus had seen the collar, and comprehended its purpose, he resigned himself to expending the funds provided to him by the Council and Alliance. Taylor placed a bid on Jack, which mildly surprised him, but the Hanar's bid on the criminal was more startling. The polite diction and tone didn't help soften the amount of credits he threw at the bid. Both of the prisoners started at five-hundred million credits, but Jack had already escalated to one and a half billion. Garrus placed a bid for Shepard, but Kaidan's elbow in his side distracted him from any other bids. He glanced to his second and the human only nodded towards the room below.

In awe, Garrus watched Shepard grab his collar, strain against it so thoroughly that his entire being seemed to bulge, and tear the contraption in two. The Warden had noticed only a second too late, and was issuing barked orders to his soldiers.

-=ME:E=-

As soon as the collar was torn, a joyous, euphoric feeling flooded Shepard's body and he was wreathed in the dark energy of his biotics. It took a quick precision warp for him to remove Jack's collar and he turned to raise a barrier against the heavy mechs just as they began their assault. The tiny woman rushed past him at the mechs, a snarl of fury on her lips and biotics surrounding her body. His initial thought was that she had lost her mind, to charge the mechs like that, but he realized that the only weapons at their disposal were themselves. Her first strike dropped its kinetic barriers while her second removed an arm from the main weapons platform in a jagged tear.

By the time Shepard caught up to Jack she had already finished the first mech, and was leaping at the next. The remaining mech focused its fire on him, but its bursts were measured too short to pose a true threat to his barriers. The Warden didn't want to harm his prize prisoners, after all. As he closed with the mech it took a clumsy swing at him, which he ducked, and immediately followed up with another. Finishing his approach with a biotic-enhanced charging tackle, he knocked the machine off of its feet and dispelled its barriers. After a few blows he had disabled the YMIR, careful not to completely destroy it. A few shots from the guards on the catwalks met his barriers or pinged off of the machine below him. He pushed them off of the catwalk as he turned to check on Jack.

She had disabled her targets in a similar manner to his own, but she was watching him cautiously, as though he were going to attack now that they were free. Alarm klaxons sounded throughout the ship and red lights washed out all color as they flashed on above them. He still needed Jack to escape – he had no idea where a ship or shuttle might be found. Walking calmly towards her, he said, "I was unconscious when they brought me on board, which way gets us off this boat?"

The younger prisoner had grown increasingly agitated as he approached until, when he stopped several paces away, she leaped at him with a fury. The first of her blows nearly shattered his barrier, but he found the rest of her attacks incredibly easy to direct away from himself. Jack threw every ounce of physical and biotic power she had into each attack, but she lacked technique completely in both aspects. Whatever the convict had done to earn cryostasis, she had relied on pure brute strength and the animal instinct she exhibited. After only a moment of this pitiful exchange Shepard flipped the tattooed woman by her arm and onto her back while retaining control of the arm. He twisted the arm slightly, and said, "Are you done?"

She spat at him and continued to struggle, "Fuck you!"

Ignoring Jack's response and batting her legs away like last time, he was mostly concentrating on keeping her biotics from getting a solid hold on anything around him. It seemed she had trouble coordinating both her body and biotics when they didn't work in tandem. Her mass effect fields moved in large, blunt shapes which he easily disrupted with sharp directed warps of his own. He twisted the arm more harshly and repeated, "Are you done?"

Realizing the futility of her struggle, just as the previous day, she turned away as much as he let her and angrily muttered a stream of vulgarities. In the low lighting provided by the red emergency lights Shepard barely noticed a faint glimmer in her eyes and a thick quality to her voice. Storing the observations away for later, he asked, "Which way?"

With a defiant flick of her free hand she indicated the wall behind him and he eased up the pressure on her arm. He watched her for a moment and considered letting her stew in her anger, to escape on his own, but he knew that whatever time he had been blessed with was running out. He had made no distinct promise to uphold his end of their bargain, but he felt bound by it anyways. Carefully, he was leery that she would attack again, he lifted her from the ground by the arm he held. She was wary as she came to her feet, but he merely jerked his head in the indicated direction and said, "Let's go."

Glad that they had kept the mechs active at least, Shepard lifted one of the jerkily struggling lumps and pressed it against the wall. Keeping a good distance from the machine, he twisted its head from its socket and watched it detonate. A smoking hole, its diameter wide enough to allow them passage, was left behind, but it did not penetrate the entirety of the wall. Considering the hole as he threw the next mech at it, he figured the walls to be at least a meter thick. Before the latest "bomb" had finished exploding, Jack copied his idea and tossed the last of the mechs at the hole.

He pushed the smoke away and found that his estimate was off, the walls were more than a meter thick. As he examined the damage, several large tears drew his attention, and he began peeling them apart with his biotics. Behind him, Jack said, "We've got company!"

One of the guards at the door shouted, "Stop where you are, hands in the air!"

Ignoring the command, Shepard drove a spike of his power into the largest tear in the wall until he felt no more resistance – the walls had been at least another half-meter thick. With exertion he began to push and pull at the hole he had made while behind him the cries of Blue Suns guards, a hoarse battle cry, and gunfire sounded. Finally, he felt the metal give and with a ferocious push he blew a hole in the wall, sending shrapnel flying into the next room. He clambered into the hole and called over his shoulder, "Jack, let's go!"

She had the Suns in disarray, but more guards poured through the doorway as she fought them. With a final wave of energy, she flung herself at the hole while displaying an obscene gesture. Shepard dropped through and was instantly under fire as he entered the next room. Small panels flipped off of the ground to provide cover to the guards, FENRIS mechs dashed towards them, and at the end of the large room a heavy mech was powering up. Escaping the Purgatory was going to be one hell of a fight.

-=ME:E=-

The amount of freedom offered to EDI by Captain Vakarian left a bubbling emotion within her after her time enclosed in herself. As she processed it, she explored the systems available to her, and stern warnings from Lieutenant Manunta kept her away from those she was restricted from accessing. Even the extranet was kept off-limits, and while EDI longed to access the information it provided, she respected the limits set on her. Most agonizing of all, she was forbidden from accessing communications with the ground team and was unable to monitor the progress of their mission to retrieve Shepard.

As she listened to chatter and watched the crewmen doing their jobs across the ship, a loophole in the communications restriction presented itself to her when she heard the Captain's voice sound over the intercom in the CIC, "Garrus to Normandy."

One of the crew working communications responded to the call, "This is Normandy, Captain."

Some gunfire could be heard over the transmission and the Captain continued, "Shepard's making his escape and we've broken from our 'escort.' We can take these Blue Suns goons well enough, but their doors are another problem. Grenades won't get us through and we can't break into their systems, anything the ship's computers can do?"

Manunta worked quickly at her terminal in the CIC before she answered, "This is Lieutenant Manunta, their system is extremely redundant, Captain. It would take our cyberwarfare VI a few minutes to break through."

EDI, always ready to make good use of herself, spoke through the intercom and hoped that it would reach the Captain, "This is EDI, if I may Captain, perhaps I could be of use in this dilemma. I was designed and trained with cyberwarfare in mind. Being of a more flexible design I would be able to infiltrate their systems more quickly than a VI."

The Lieutenant looked ready to reprimand EDI, but the Captain's voice preempted her, "How long would it take you to get ready, EDI?"

Though she had been forbidden from completely accessing vital systems, EDI had stolen a few glimpses of their inner workings during her exploration of the Normandy. Sure that she was more than ready to assist the Captain, she said, "I have been ready to interface with many of the ship's systems since you released me, Captain. However, out of respect for the limits placed upon me I have heeded any warnings from the Lieutenant."

The dark-skinned woman glanced directly at the camera EDI was utilizing to watch her as they waited for the Captain's reply. More gunfire and shouts in the background as he said, "Lieutenant, grant her access to the systems she'll need for now. Keep monitoring her activities."

That bubbling emotion made itself known again as the, from her perspective, thin walls that held her from several systems fell away. She could feel her knowledge grow and the speed of her thought was enhanced with the Normandy's powerful hardware supporting her. She was almost lost in that bubbling feeling, but the task before her presented a suitable avenue in which she could direct her energy.

-=ME:E=-

Garrus picked off a soldier who tried to push forward and beside him Kaidan shouted over the din, "Are you sure that's wise, Captain? We still don't know if she's trustworthy."

As he traded fire with the steady stream of blue-armored figures and their mechs, Garrus considered the wisdom of Kaidan's remarks when it was quite possible that EDI could hear them. What if the human expectation that she was bound to end up a calculating killer came true? Pissing the AI off didn't seem too smart. He understood that as the XO it was the marine's job to question the decisions made by the CO and advise him on the various situations he might find himself in. He also understood that while he should justify his decision to Kaidan, now was not the best time. A warning on his eyepiece that indicated imminent failure of his kinetic barriers reinforced that understanding and he ducked into cover.

Less than a minute passed after he had loosed EDI into more of the Normandy's systems and the red holographic indicator hovering before the door shifted to green. Garrus led his team through the door with a rotating procession of short sprints and covering fire. As soon as Whitson cleared the door it closed and the indicator shifted to red again. A pack of FENRIS mechs galloped down the new hall at them, but stopped short and eventually shut down as Kaidan worked some of his "magic" on them with a tech mine. Sans the lifeless mechs, the hall was an empty tube of transparent composites and metal deck plating, but in the next cell block gunfire could be heard. EDI's cool voice sounded in their radios, "Captain, I have managed to penetrate their security network and access door controls, but I am meeting heavy resistance and combating attempts at jamming communications. Should I gain access to further systems I will contact you by radio."

"I think it's working out pretty good for us so far, Kaidan," Garrus refreshed the thermal clip in his rifle as he continued, "Check your clips and mods, we're moving in thirty."

At the rear Whitson, while doing as commanded, asked, "Er, seconds or minutes?"

Kaidan sighed and gave Garrus a look while Mordin rambled to the younger human about the possibilities of standard galactic minutes, seconds, and common variations. Ignoring the show of minor exasperation, Garrus listened to the chaos of the ship hoping to find indications of Shepard's location. Cryostasis was only a few corridors away, but last anyone in the auction-room had seen the two prisoners had forced their way into a neighboring cell block.

Heavy combat sounded in the distance and tremors shook the sturdy halls, overhead the Purgatory VI announced, "Primary power to cell blocks nine, eight, and seven has been lost, emergency batteries routed to life support and prisoner containment. Heavy casualties."

A powerful explosion shook the corridor and the VI continued, "Addendum: Warning: Emergency batteries at one-thirds capacity, prisoner containment system failed."

The Warden's voice spoke over the VI, which continued to list off damaged systems, "Reserve platoons, divert to the affected blocks immediately! We are entering a full security lock down. Damage control teams, standby to make immediate repairs."

The shuttle they arrived in was on the starboard side, but docking facilities were available all over the ship and the sounds of combat were rapidly moving to the port-aft sections of the ship. Figuring that he had given the others closer to forty-five seconds, he followed the corridor towards the aft sections, ignoring the now quiet cell block to his left. Further along the corridor, guards fell back out of the cell block, escaped prisoners with improvised and stolen weapons on their heels. As the Blue Suns caught sight of Garrus and his team, they hesitated and were swiftly cut down.

Unlike the fallen guards, the crowd of prisoners showed no such hesitation and rushed down the hallway at them. Garrus signaled the others to cover before he unleashed a long burst from his rifle, scything down the handful of prisoners at the head of the pack. He received a heat notification on his visor and paused to swap clips, saying, "Kaidan, slow them down. Professor, give me a wide-area incineration tank. Whitson, keep an eye on our rear and provide suppressive fire."

Even before he finished his orders, Mordin and Kaidan moved to comply, while Whitson hesitated before opening fire into the crowd. A concentrated mass effect field formed and detonated in the path of the approaching crowd, scattering and staggering many of them. The salarian worked quickly at his omni-tool and Garrus stood as the suppressive fire petered off, carefully firing in bursts placed to kill as efficiently as possible. Mordin launched a small device, almost like a missile, into the throng of prisoners and rather than be tossed away by the explosion, the majority of the crowd was instantly set ablaze. A viscous material clung to their jumpsuits and skin, the primary fuel for the intense flames, but the screams and struggles only lasted a moment as it was swiftly expended. The remainder of the prisoners fled back into the cell block from which they emerged, and Garrus said, "Move up, check for wounded. EDI, lock down the cell block ahead of us. Joker, recall the shuttle for now."

Whitson, obviously shaken by the slaughter, asked, "You plan to help them after what we just did?"

Garrus shook his head, he had no inkling of pity for the prisoners since most of them were vile on levels similar to the late Dr. Saleon. Kaidan, ever the honest and straightforward one, said, "In situations such as these, it's common practice to finish off the wounded thus eliminating any possible threats as we move forward."

Mordin was nodding along to Kaidan's speech and he added, "Practical, too risky to take any chances here."

As he made his way down the hall, Garrus could hear only two sets of steps following him, the Whitson boy wasn't moving. Turning to look at the human, he said, "Purgatory is home to some of the galaxy's most violent and depraved criminals. Rapists, serial killers, mass-murderers – all of them would kill you given the chance. Keep up, pity isn't something they deserve."

-=ME:E=-

As the turian walked off into the smoking mess of bodies, stopping to calmly empty a round into the occasional prisoner, Jonn thought he was going to be sick. The smells of burning flesh, rubber, blood, and others unidentifiable were making him nauseous, his hands shaky. He followed the others as they picked their way through the burned mass, each gunshot caused his esophagus to tighten as if in warning. A groan echoed from the far end of the corridor and Jonn allowed himself a soft whimper. It was just like the fight on Omega, but worse yet he was fully aware, his mind sharp and ready. Before it was fear, adrenaline, and shock as Shepard dragged him along. There in that corridor, he was in control, he volunteered to come, and he was struggling to fully stomach the entire experience.

The toe of his boot bumped into a corpse, his insides turned. A slick of blood caused his feet to stick, a light vacuum pressure adding resistance to his step, and he struggled to contain a heave. Jonn dared a glance down at the few remaining corpses at the end of the smoking corridor and a shaved head caught his eye. He recognized the face though the snarl of fury it wore only a minute ago was replaced with a wide stare, a terror rictus gripping its features. A trio of holes were bored into the orange jumpsuit that garbed the corpse. He could remember the rush of satisfaction he felt when those first shots landed, but it had quickly devolved into the nausea that plagued him as he studied the corpse. A gurgle drew his attention away and he caught movement in the corner of his eye.

One of the convicts which he had felled, one of his victims, was struggling to breathe through the flow of blood that leaked from his wounds. Swallowing the lump in his throat, and avoiding a close inspection of the prisoner's features, he shot the prone figure neatly in the head. He didn't want to remember those pained, terrified expressions.

-=ME:E=-

Unlike his Council counterparts, Jacob was leading his team to intercept Shepard and Subject Zero along a more subtle and circuitous route. Aside from Zaeed, who had materialized a light machine gun as if from nowhere, they were armed with their biotics and pistols only. Hacking into systems vital to their infiltration proved easier than expected, and Jacob figured it had something to do with Vakarian's presence. The fighting continued to move towards the aft sections of the ship, and Jacob followed. He had no illusions about apprehending Shepard, but he still had to try separating Subject Zero from the former Spectre. If that could be managed, then their mission wouldn't have been a waste of time.

If the schematics of the Purgatory provided by the Illusive Man were accurate, and knowing Cerberus's resources – they were, then they were approaching a vital intersection in the ship's layout. Sure enough, after Miranda spent a moment hacking the door, Jacob found himself facing three more doors.

One of the doors led aft, towards engineering, the others to port and starboard, each led to docking facilities and the control center respectively. Jacob had little interest in the control center due to the ease with which they were able to access doors and communications, but the docking facilities did interest him. If Shepard and Subject Zero were to escape from this area of the ship, they would need to pass through these corridors to find a suitable spacecraft. He was all ready to do one of the things he preferred not to do, wait until the two escapees came by, but a tap on his shoulder grabbed his attention.

Zaeed had been agitated and jumpy throughout the entire mission, so Jacob had expected something sooner or later. The mercenary glanced towards the control center and said, "Taylor, listen, when I signed on with Cerberus I got paid, sure, but there was one other term I wanted in my contract, which the Illusive Man granted."

Jacob noticed the way that the bounty hunter's eyes strayed towards the control center and his tense grip on the weapon in his hands. Leaning against a nearby wall, crossing his arms, Jacob said, "I'm guessing this isn't the kind of thing that can wait 'til later, is it?"

Zaeed nodded and continued, "There's a man I want dead, that I've wanted dead for years now, the only problem has been finding the bastard. Until now. It could wait, we could do it after your mission, but there's an opportunity here and I've been patient for too bloody long."

Jacob turned his eyes to the door leading towards the control center, acknowledging Zaeed's focus on the object. To the side, Miranda was obviously listening, but he could observe nothing about her opinion on the matter. He still had questions and reservations himself, so he said, "Who? Why? Do you have reliable intel? I need more information before I can commit to this. We don't know how long it'll be until Shepard and Subject Zero pass through here, and I want to be ready for them, not off chasing ghosts."

If they could even be separated, Jacob thought. What if the convict looked to the former Spectre for protection? What if Shepard had made a deal with Subject Zero?

Zaeed's agitation melted into excitement, perhaps at the prospect that they might make the detour, and he said, "The name's Vido Santiago and I have reliable intel that he's on board. That control center is where he'll be. If you really want to know why, I'll tell you the whole damn story as soon we make it back to the ship."

Miranda finally spoke up, a small trace of disdain showing in her voice, "You heard the Captain, we can't afford a detour right now. Not only that, you expect us to assault a heavily guarded control center in order to take down _the head of the Blue Suns_?"

"Taylor," Zaeed removed the ridiculous shades from his face and looked Jacob in the eye, "If we do this, here – now, I'll owe you more than your Illusive Man paid me to join up."

Miranda stepped forward, obviously agitated, "What you're proposing is suicide, we don't have the manpower or the equipment with us."

Jacob returned the bounty hunter's intense stare and assessed the man. He could see in the rigid set of Zaeed's posture and face that this was something he needed. Off to the side Miranda seemed petulant and wavering. To her, capturing Subject Zero with the chance of "rescuing" Shepard was something she wanted. Perhaps a balm to soothe the burn on her ego. Unwilling to indulge Miranda's fetish for perfection, he said, "Is it any more a suicide mission than taking on Shepard, who beat us back alone, along with another powerful biotic?"

Jacob pushed off of his spot on the wall, a new thought occurring to him, "What if we can't peel her off of him, Miranda? What if he's taken her on as one of his 'projects'? You know him better than I do. How do you explain Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Wrex, and Tali'Zorah? Those aliens had no place on an Alliance vessel, yet he took them along anyways. Chances are it's already too late for Subject Zero. We can still get something done while we're here, and we're going to do it."

Miranda's jaw clenched, the muscle gradually bulging more as he talked, until eventually she stepped away her arms crossing defiantly. Frostily, she said, "Fine, whatever you say, _Captain_."

Jacob expected her response, and knew that he was going to pay for it later like a poorly financed hovercar, but he was glad for her acquiescence. Zaeed nodded to him gratefully as he stepped past both of them and towards the control center.

-=ME:E=-

Jack was far from subtle and far from weak: Shepard hat to push himself to keep up with her reckless rampage through the Purgatory. The entire experience was similar to a high-speed chase where they were the prey, but it was also like sitting behind the gunnery controls of a charging tank. He followed her lead and provided support, killing those that tried to stop them. She carved straight swaths through the cell blocks, stopping only to swat guards out of the way or to pummel a mech into submission. Shepard had kept himself within several paces of her at all times, but sometimes obstacles would get in the way. Like the modular prison cells she occasionally flung at enemies or the large mechanical arm she had wrenched from the ceiling to drop on a duo of heavy mechs. The hole in the ceiling revealed a primary power conduit, and Shepard had taken the time to rip that out of its scaffolding before vaulting over the obstacle Jack produced.

The pace had been breakneck for so long that Shepard never had time to scavenge a weapon or engage foes in close combat, he had been forced to biotics the entire time. The casual use of biotics had his nerves humming with satisfaction, but Shepard was wary of the inevitable headache that would come. As he sent a guard flying with a small pocket of biotic energy, likely snapping the poor sob's neck, Jack sprinted ahead and into an open door. Shepard charged after her and a turian stepped into his path, weapon raised, but he continued onwards until he had toppled the alien. Not stopping to finish the downed guard, he continued into the chamber he had last seen Jack in and forced the door closed. A cry of pain echoed in the dark room, but Shepard found himself slowing to a prowl.

Another cry of pain sounded around the corner, and Shepard cautiously approached, he couldn't discern whether the voice was male or female. A slain human guard lay at the corner, several weapons docked on the corpse's hardsuit, and Shepard bent to retrieve a machine pistol. He was relieved to find no biometric protection on it. This time, when the groan came, Shepard could identify it as male, and Jack's angrily muttered invectives eased the tension that had been building.

He stepped around the cover to find Jack grinding her booted foot into the knee of a downed guard; the leg was horribly mangled, the damage visible through the cracked hardsuit. In this act of sadism, her glee was apparent, but at the same time Shepard could see a deeply held hatred twisting her grin. He couldn't let her continue any longer, so he proceeded towards her immediately. As he strode in her direction, Jack lifted her leg long enough to stomp down on the other knee with a flare of dark energy. A sickening pop and crunch sounded, a scream of pain, and Jack laughed, "How do you like me now, Tokesson? Not so easy now, am I bitch?"

The guard, Tokesson apparently, shifted his hands to the belt of his armor and hissed, "Fuck you, Jack. As soon as you're back in custody I'm asking Kurill for some 'alone time'."

Jack raised her foot again in rage, oblivious to the sly movements of the downed guard's hands, but Shepard grabbed her arm and jerked her away. Before she could even curse or shout in rage, he raised his pistol and executed the mercenary. She wrenched away from him and with a scream of rage caved the hardsuit chestplate inwards with her boot. Jack whirled towards him instantly, but Shepard caught her by the wrist and she growled at him, "What the hell, Shepard! That motherfucker deserved to suffer!"

"Revenge solves nothing, Jack. You would still be angry and you would still hate him," He pushed her away and indicated the corpse, continuing, "Whatever he did to you, it's in the past, but if you had gone on any longer, it would have become your present."

Shepard showed no hesitance and maintained a firm tone as he spoke to her; types like Jack had to be handled with a steady strength. Push too hard and you're asking for a fight, too little and you were a doormat. She still appeared angry, but she slit her eyes as she glanced at the corpse, eventually nudging one of the limp hands with the toe of her boot. A small cylindrical device rolled out of the blue fist, a pair of electrodes gleaming menacingly in the dim red of the emergency lighting. Shepard bent to retrieve the weapon, examining it for a moment, before he directed the shining end towards the corpse. With the press of a button an arc of electricity jumped from the device and struck the corpse, disappearing in an instant. The mangled body convulsed violently for that brief second before settling again and Shepard tossed the device at the corpse before looking to Jack. She stared at the corpse for a moment before looking to him with, he wanted to call it respect, but it seemed far too guarded to fully qualify.

Shepard tossed the machine pistol to Jack before stooping to search nearby corpses. He found an assault rifle, the latest Avenger model it seemed, and a heavy pistol he couldn't identify. He straightened to find Jack hefting a large shotgun that dwarfed her arms and he wanted to laugh. The convict had a wicked look on her face as she eyed the weapon, but Shepard immediately knew that the weapon would dislocate her shoulder or worse break an arm if she tried to fire it. Reaching over, he firmly yanked it from her grasp and thrust the assault rifle at her, saying, "I think your eyes are a little big for your hands there, Jack."

Jack narrowed her eyes at him, hissing, "Are you calling me weak? I'm warning you, nobody fucks with me and gets away with it."

Shepard wanted to roll his eyes, _that_ way of thinking, _again_.

Raising a placating hand, he said, "Relax, Jack. I've felt your biotics, you're undisciplined as hell, but you've got considerable power.," He paused to indicate her skinny form, "Cryo hasn't been kind to your body. You've got stamina, I'll give you that, but whatever strength you had is gone."

"For now," She muttered bitterly, hefting the assault rifle to rest on her shoulder.

Going over the corpses for thermal clips and checking his weapons, Shepard couldn't help but notice that Jack didn't do the same. Finding spots at his waist that he could stuff the weapons and heat sinks into, he said, "Check your weapons for thermal clips and grab a few from these bodies, never know when you'll need 'em."

She stared at him blankly for a moment before gruffly, as if to cover embarrassment, she said, "Right, on it."

Shepard nabbed a few extra clips before handing them off to Jack and, with concern, he asked, "Jack, how long have you been in cryo?"

She continued to search the corpses, her hoarse voice softening, "Couple years maybe, been on Purgatory longer than that. Don't see how any of it is your fuckin' business. As soon as we're out of here and someplace safe, I'm gone."

"Right," Shepard wasn't so sure he wanted to let a dangerous criminal loose anywhere, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to drag her around everywhere, either. Time would tell. He took the rifle from Jack's hands and held it sideways so she could see the heat sink that was currently loaded into it. Sure he had her attention, Shepard thought back to a few articles he had read and with a small grin, said, "Traditionally, most modern weapons used permanently-installed heat sinks in their weapons, which in turn limited how rapidly they could fire as built up heat had to be dispersed before the gun could fire again.

After conflicts with the Geth two years ago their weapons were examined and from them we took a new heat-distribution system. The Geth used disposable, modular..."

Shepard trailed off as Jack gave an exaggerated yawn and said, "Not interested, just show me how to use them."

As he demonstrated how to replace the thermal clip rapidly, Jack asked, "Nice lecture, how the fuck do you know all this shit anyways?"

Shepard shrugged and passed the rifle off to Jack, saying, "I liked to keep up to date on new tech developments, kinda like a hobby, read an article about thermal clip technology a couple years ago. Since they're in use now, I'm assuming the information in the article was accurate."

Jack let the rifle fold itself before she stuffed it into the excess jumpsuit gathered at her waist and drew the machine pistol, saying, "So, these clips, they work on any gun? You know, universal or something like that?"

Shepard continued further into the room, towards a door with a large 'one' painted above it, and said, "No, weapons like heavy pistols, shotguns, and sniper rifles each have different bore sizes, which would make compatibility between guns difficult. The larger the bore, the larger the ammunition which means that heat-management requirements will vary. I suspect that pistol you're using can use clips compatible with the rifle, though."

Behind him, Jack mumbled, "Good, I like things simple. Complicated things are just... Complicated."

He snorted, "Eloquent."

Jack growled at him, "Fuck off, you don't need to be 'eloquent' to kill. That's what I do."

Shepard was pretty sure that for a criminal like Jack, kill was almost, but not quite the word to describe what she did. Murdered. Destroyed. It seemed she met any threat with ruthless, overwhelming force, and he didn't find himself shying from that ferocity. They would need it to escape.

-=ME:E=-

Please, if you find something that bothers you, or just any spelling or grammar mistakes, let me know in a review.


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